A recent article on Firstpost stated that “according to a report by Nasscom research, India has the second biggest pool of highly qualified AI, machine learning, and big data expertise behind the United States. It produces 16% of the world’s AI talent pool, putting it in the top three talent marketplaces with the United States and China.”
India’s deep pool of technical talent is due in part to its many prestigious universities that specialize in data science and electrochemistry research. From Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology (NIT) to Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CERCI), which I attended, India has become an innovation hub for battery R&D, producing highly qualified and in-demand talent. For this reason, as well as its business-friendly policy environment, Enovix has chosen India and specifically Hyderabad, to be its R&D Center location, within walking distance of tech giants such as — Amazon, Google, Micron and Microsoft.
Accelerating our next-gen battery designs
The goal of our R&D Center is to accelerate our value proposition and competitive advantage. We aim to produce the most cutting-edge battery to power the technologies of the future. Data science and analysis supports everything from next-gen materials testing to factory yield. Since our battery design is material agnostic, we’re constantly seeking the latest and best electrode and electrolyte combinations. And as we ramp to high volume production, we’re analyzing our manufacturing processes to maximize efficiencies.
For example, today, testing a battery’s cycle life is a lengthy process that requires charging and discharging a cell from 0 to 100% every day over the course of a few months. Now, we can take a partial set of cycling data and predict the outcomes through modeling, which can accelerate our development timeline significantly from months to days.
Another example of our R&D efforts is predicting and creating gassing models. Cutting-edge cathodes operate at high voltages. Such high voltages can cause unwanted reactions between the electrolyte and the cathode material. This can be seen as gassing at high temperatures in accelerated testing. Instead of stressing fully-charged cells for a month to see a gassing signal, we can reduce the test time by greater than 10x — from 30 days to just two or three days.
Many advanced battery companies today are taking advantage of these latest tools — machine learning and AI, data science and modeling. As a next-generation Li-ion battery manufacturer, we see an even greater need to move extremely fast and continue to remain agile as we prove our technology is significantly ahead of the competition. Historically, increases in Li-ion battery energy density have been meager year over year — about 4% annually from 1991 to 2022. We intend to break this trend and create a battery that’s up to double the capacity of batteries on the market today. Our current solution uses silicon as the only cycling anode material, which creates a battery with high energy density and capacity without compromising safety.
At our India R&D Center, we’re excited to take advantage of the latest modeling technologies so we can remain at the forefront of technological battery breakthroughs. And our team is hiring. If you’re looking for a career in renewable energy with an innovative company like Enovix, please take a look at our careers page and apply: https://www.enovix.com/careers/.
