In the past few weeks, Ilika are proud to have achieved two major technology achievements for their Goliath solid state technology for electric vehicles – D4 development point and lithium-ion parity. These achievements validate the technical approach taken by the company and support the justification for investment in a full-pilot facility configured to demonstrate that the technology can be licensed for third-party giga-scale implementation. Goliath cells have the potential to offer EV producers the benefits of solid state batteries' improved safety, faster charging, longer lifespan, and greater temperature resilience, without the need to sacrifice size, space, or effective range.

The first announcement was the achievement of the D4 development point – a design-freeze milestone in the Goliath roadmap upon which Ilika’s first prototype for customer release, P1, is based. The P1 Goliath prototype is a solid state pouch cell with an NMC cathode and a silicon anode and is an intermediate milestone on Ilika’s roadmap to its minimum viable product (MVP) in 2025, effectively marking the start of Goliath’s productization journey.

The D4 development point means that a number of key data sets – including energy density and power density – have been met so P1 samples, comprising at least 4 layer stacks, can be created then offered to OEMs for testing. Over the next six months, Ilika will manufacture and test batches of pouch cells based on the D4 development point prior to delivering fully characterized P1 cells to up to 15 customers in 2024.

Reaching this D4 development point then enabled the company to achieve lithium-ion energy density parity, which was announced a couple of weeks later. This is a significant milestone as it means that the Goliath solid state pouch cell is now able to match the representative energy density of incumbent lithium-ion pouch cells, achieving an effective energy density of 250 Wh/kg and a capacity of 0.715 Ah. It is also an intermediate point on the journey to Ilika’s P2 prototype product, which will be licensable to partners in H1 2025.

Graeme Purdy, Ilika CEO, stated: "We have reached further major milestones on Ilika's roadmap, validating the effectiveness of the Company's technology development programme. This key achievement in our cutting-edge Goliath battery re-emphasizes the strength of our solution and further demonstrates Ilika's differentiation as we strive for a more sustainable future.

"This is a very exciting time for the Company. We are on target with our roadmap as we move forward. Ilika would like to thank its numerous stakeholders for their ongoing support in achieving this milestone and looks forward to their sustained backing throughout our commercialisation journey.

"Solid state technology stands to transform the EV market in terms of performance, safety and accessibility. Indeed, as the technology continues to develop, there is the potential for further energy density improvements that will allow additional size and weight reduction.”