Sakuu Blog

Sakuu Technology Presented at BEVA USA Conference

BEVA conferences provide a comprehensive platform for OEMs, industry experts, and technology providers to exchange ideas in person and online.

Presenters and attendees collaborate in a learning and networking experience balancing strategic and technical discussions. The aim is to shape the future of electric vehicle architectural integration by evaluating all design considerations, and this year’s event expanded scope to focus on the most game-changing disruptive technologies, including additive manufacturing aka 3D printing.

Arwed’s presentation focused on Sakuu’s innovations for achieving next-level battery pack density and integrating custom, 3D printed high-energy batteries in EV architecture. During the talk, he explained the additive manufacturing benefits Sakuu has uncovered:

“One advantage that we find most striking over the last few years of development is that we can create much better electrical interfaces between the layers of a battery. When you control the moment of stacking of different battery layers, it enables creating much better interfaces all the way from liquid electrolyte batteries to solid state batteries,” he said.

Other benefits Arwed discussed included the elimination of material waste, since there is no cutting or scrap involved in Sakuu’s 3D printing process, “We only put material where it’s really needed.”

Sakuu’s technology also enables the deposition of extremely thin layers and flexibility for printing different layer thicknesses. For example, within a cell, a cathode has to be much thicker than a separator layer. Sakuu’s additive manufacturing process allows for manipulating these layer thicknesses so “you can do the thinnest layer possible when you need it, and you can define a thick layer where you need it, and even variable thicknesses.”

To demonstrate Sakuu’s capabilities, Arwed also discussed development of Sakuu’s licensable Li-Metal Cypress™ cell chemistry, which enables more efficient packaging and innovative thermal management, achieving 8C pulse discharge, 3C continuous discharge, 800 Wh/l energy density. Arwed noted that at Sakuu, “We are selling the additive manufacturing technology to manufacture batteries of higher performance at less cost.” He also explained the motivation for developing and licensing Cypress: “This battery electrochemistry shows that we know what we're talking about. We know how to do batteries.” 

BEVA USA primarily draws attendance from OEMS and Tier 1–3 suppliers in the battery/electric vehicle (BEV) industry. Other speakers at this year’s BEVA USA event included:

• Madhusudan Raghavan, Group Manager, Battery and System Architecture, General Motors R&D  
• William Braff, Director of Advanced Engineering Systems, Lucid Motors
• Trevor Wilcox, Electrical Engineering Specialist High Voltage Battery Expert, Volkswagen of America
• David Weir, Senior Manager Vehicle Structural Integration and Battery Frames, Jaguar Land Rover