Defense Applications Help EV Batteries Over The Funding Hump
EV batteries are among the many applications for a new semi-solid electrolyte to be produced in Kentucky by the US startup Anthro Energy (courtesy of Anthro Energy).
May 5, 20261 hour
Tina Casey
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The US startup Anthro Energy has just announced funding for the next phase of its new factory in Kentucky, where it will manufacture next-generation, semi-solid electrolytes for EV batteries among other projects. That’s…interesting! The latest news involves a series of awards totaling $24.9 million from the US Department of Energy, which has not exactly been a friend to the vehicle electrification movement of late.
Anthro Energy Survives The Chopper
The Energy Department has been clawing back, suspending, or outright canceling clean tech funds that were awarded during the previous administration. However, some have slipped through, and Anthro is one of them. With the Energy Department funds in hand, the California-based company is on track to hold a ground-breaking ceremony for its new factory in Kentucky by the middle of this year, which is just around the corner. Part of the award, totaling $24.9 million, has already been parceled out in the leadup to construction.
“In the next phase of the project, Anthro Energy will initiate construction and equipment installation while accelerating hiring, supplier integration, and operational readiness,” the company explains.
“The facility is expected to support a range of critical end markets, including defense applications, advanced consumer electronics, mobility platforms, and the rapidly growing energy storage systems (ESS) market.”
If you caught that thing about defense applications, that helps explain how and why the new factory is still on track. Partisan politicking aside, aerial drones and other robotics have emerged in full force as the latest wave of game-changing military technology, and electrification adds a crucial advantage. Anthro came to the attention of the US Army back in 2022, when its new battery achieved Finalist status in the Army’s xTech program.
In another defense-related angle, Kentucky is the home of Fort Knox and Fort Campbell. Plans for the new factory include working with both facilities and veterans’ organization on workforce training and recruitment programs.
Follow The Money: Semi-Solid EV Batteries Are Coming For Your Fossil Fuels
The political angle also helps explain matters. Although Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is a Democrat, both of the state’s US Senators are Republicans, as are five of its six members of the US House Representatives. It would be awfully embarrassing for all concerned if the Energy Department yanked the rug out from under the new factory.
All systems were go as of last December, when Governor Beshear celebrated the company’s choice of Louisville for the new factory in a detailed press release that highlighted the company’s $42 million investment alongside 390 construction jobs and 110 new permanent, full time positions, with the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority chipping in a generous performance-based incentive package as well.
“Anthro Energy has developed a proprietary injectable phase-change electrolyte (IPCE) trademarked as Anthro Proteus, which can be used in a range of battery products tailored to specific industries, such as consumer, micromobility, defense and automotive,” the Governor’s office noted.
Kentucky native and Anthro CTO Joe Papp also chipped in his two cents. “This facility will stand as the first major U.S.-owned and U.S.-operated advanced electrolyte production site, marking a significant milestone in our effort to build a resilient domestic supply chain for critical battery materials and to deliver the next generation of energy technologies,” Papp said.
Politics aside, arguing with success is a tough row to hoe. As of last December, Beshear credited his administration with adding more than 1,200 new and expanded private-sector projects to the state, totaling a total investment of $44 billion along with 66,000 new jobs.
“This is the highest investment figure secured during the tenure of any governor in the commonwealth’s history and $20 billion more than the next highest total,” the Governor’s office emphasized.
“Gov. Beshear has announced some of the largest economic development projects in state history, which have solidified Kentucky as the electric vehicle battery production capital of the United States,” the office continued, taking note of EV battery investments by Ford, SK On, and Toyota among others.
The Semi-Solid EV Battery Of The Future Is Here
As for what, exactly, a semi-solid electrolyte is, that’s a good question. CleanTechnica has spilled plenty of ink on solid-state EV batteries, in which a volatile liquid electrolyte is replaced with a stable, higher-performing compound composed of high tech plastic or ceramic material.
Semi-solid technology lies somewhere in between. Anthro Energy spun its version of the technology out of research at Stanford University and launched in 2021. The Energy Department came through with the $24.9 million grant shortly after, in 2024 through its Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains.
The new electrolyte is designed to replace conventional lithium-ion battery electrolytes on a drop-in basis. “Anthro Proteus™ represents a new class of injectable phase-change electrolytes that impart advanced features into lithium-ion batteries without changing existing manufacturing processes,” the company explains.
“Anthro’s technology replaces the liquid electrolyte with a polymer electrolyte, which is kind of a stretchy elastic rubber material that goes inside the battery in place of the liquid. By replacing the liquid with this polymer, you’re able to improve the safety and lifecycle, and also enable the next-generation of higher energy-density batteries,” Anthro Energy co-founder and CEO David Mackanic elaborated in a profile posted by Stanford’s TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy.
Manufacturing Our Way To Sustainability
As described by Anthro, the new electrolyte incorporates many elements of solid-state technology, in a format compatible with existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing lines.
“This technology is deployed like conventional liquid electrolytes by injecting a liquid precursor into the battery. Once inside the cell, a liquid to solid transition occurs, creating a mechanically solid polymer material inside the battery without changing the standard manufacturing process,” Anthro notes.
“The polymer material also forms a protective secondary binder network around the battery’s active materials, unlocking improved performance and extended cycle life,” the company adds.
The TomKat profile also provides some insights into the cycle life factor. “The Anthro team foresees that longer-lasting batteries, with fewer recalls, is one path to decreasing carbon emissions associated with manufacturing batteries,” the school observes. “Meanwhile, lighter-weight, power-dense batteries can equate to more efficient electric cars and vehicles — given that energy storage is the crux to a more electric future.”
For the record, Anthro earned a string of grants and investments leading up to the materialization of the Kentucky factory, including a TomKat grant that helped pave the way to a $600,000 award from the US Department of Defense.
Photo: EV batteries are among the many applications for a new semi-solid electrolyte to be manufactured in Kentucky by the US startup Anthro Energy (courtesy of Anthro Energy).
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