Ideanomics invests in battery specialist InoBat
Ideanomics, a Chinese-US fintech and sustainable transport company based in New York has invested in the Slovakian battery specialist InoBat. The investment sum has not been disclosed but the sum should support the completion of InoBat’s R&D centre and pilot battery plant in Voderady, Slovakia, by the end of 2022.
The Slovakian company is reportedly planning a 100 MWh pilot production facility in Voderady and a 10 GWh factory from 2024. Some of the manufacturing equipment will be supplied by the German factory machine manufacturer Manz. InoBat presented its “intelligent” battery cell in 2020. InoBat’s cells combine artificial intelligence (AI) with High Throughput (HTP) technology. HTP is a screening method from pharmaceutical research that can be used to carry out tests on a wide range of substances. Then applying AI, InoBat finds the most promising cell chemistry for the respective customer application.
Ideanomics and InoBat also want to work together to develop, produce and sell integrated battery pack solutions for the US market. Ideanomics says these will be both standardised packs and customised batteries.
Robin Mackie, President of Ideanomics Mobility explained that “With Rio Tinto and Amara Raja’s recent strategic investments and relationships in Europe and Asia, we believe that InoBat will have access to the materials and rare-earth metals necessary to produce batteries at scale and help to minimize supply chain risks across our Ideanomics Mobility operating companies.” Inobat also cooperates with Group14 Technologies, a supplier of lithium-silicon battery materials based in the US.
Marian Bocek, Chief Executive Officer of InoBat Auto says: “InoBat prides itself on providing innovative solutions across the entire battery value chain thanks to our own “cradle-to-cradle” approach.” Here she refers to, among other things, the approach with Rio Tinto that not only involves mining for raw materials but also a strategic recycling approach. “We are thrilled to join hands with Ideanomics, a like-minded company with vehicles across a wide range of industries,” said Marian Bocek, Chief Executive Officer of InoBat Auto
Ideanomics has recently made a number of acquisitions in the electric mobility sector. In the summer of 2021, the company acquired electric utility vehicle manufacturer Via Motos, and before that Ideanomics took over US Hybrid (electric drive components and fuel cells), Solectrac (e-tractors) and Wave (inductive charging systems). Ideanomics has now also increased its stake in the electric motorcycle manufacturer Energica to 70 per cent.
Ideanomics says of the collaboration that it should accelerate Ideanomics subsidiaries’ continued growth and deliver potential revenue opportunities targeting other US commercial EV fleet customers.
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