The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - December 1, 2023
Mitra Chem has shipped its first batch of iron-based cathode samples to automakers seeking American-made and source battery materials for Inflation Reduction Act-compliant EVs.
One month after closing a $60 million Series B round of financing led by General Motors, Mitra Chem has already shipped multiple samples of commercial-grade lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) cathode active material to major global electric vehicle manufacturers and battery makers.
Led by Vivas Kumar, an engineer who previously served as a senior manager on Tesla's battery team and as a principle of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, Mitra Chem is a Silicon Valley-based battery materials tech company that is leveraging a proprietary artificial intelligence platform to shorten the lab-to-production timeline by over 90%.
This accelerated timeline to commercial battery material products is critical to help automakers be able to produce American-made EVs that meet the domestic sourcing requirements for consumer tax credits offered under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Mitra Chem is one of the only U.S.-based manufacturers focused on establishing commercial, domestic production of cathode materials for iron-based lithium batteries.
In addition to speeding up the lab-to-production timeline, Mitra Chem's proprietary "atoms-to-tons acceleration platform" is rapidly rolling out new cathode materials tailored to the growing number of clean energy storage and EV applications.
The battery materials delivered to market by this AI-driven platform will allow automakers to provide consumers with options when it comes to range and price, as well as alleviate the rocketing demand for nickel and cobalt that go into more traditional lithium-ion batteries.
On top of the LMFP samples it has already shipped out, Mitra Chem says it has a strong pipeline of sample requests from manufacturers in the U.S. and around the world.
"We are proud to be working with top global auto OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and cell makers as demand for our IRA-compliant LMFP product surges," said Kumar. "We continue to focus on the key automotive segments, which are growing rapidly with consumer demand driving the expansion of a domestic, IRA-compliant supply chain."
Now that it has gone from atoms to kilograms of samples for automakers to test, the AI-powered technology and battery materials company is looking to accelerate the next step to tons of iron-based cathode materials for a world rapidly transitioning to e-mobility.
"We look forward to completing additional qualification steps in the weeks ahead with customers as we contemplate our long-term commercial scale-up strategy," the Mitra Chem CEO added.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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