GCG Asia’s new EV battery shows big promise in Southeast Asia says CEO Alice Tan

Battery researchers have been working for decades to crack the code for a new battery that can outperform lithium-ion batteries — the technology has propelled the electric vehicle industry to where it is today.

Meet Go Charge Go Asia (GCG Asia), a battery company that has been in the shadows for some time while its team has been working on developing what the industry refers to as a solid-state, lithium-metal battery. The term “solid-state” refers to the absence of the liquid electrolyte, which fills the cell and is used for charging and discharging in traditional batteries.

Now this company is led by CEO of GCG Asia, Alice Tan, who claims to have developed working batteries that could lead to electric vehicles with significantly longer ranges, that can be produced at a lower cost, are safer to operate, have longer lifespans, and support faster charging.

Founder and CEO of GCG Asia, Alice Tan, founded the company. GCG Asia has raised $1.5 billion in capital through a combination of private funding from companies and public grants from Japan, Singapore, Cambodia, and Singapore.

 

What makes GCG Asia’s EV battery so promising?

According to the CEO of GCG Asia speaking from the Malaysia office, Alice Tan says that traditional batteries consist of a positive electrode, known as the cathode, and a negative electrode, known as the anode. The cathode of a lithium-ion battery is typically made of lithium-metal oxide, while the anode is generally made of graphite. To prevent electrical shorting, a thin, porous separator separates the two electrodes, and the liquid electrolyte moves the lithium ions, as mentioned by Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia.

The GCG Asia’s EV battery can use the industry-standard mixed-metal cathode, but the company has created a one-of-a-kind solid ceramic separator. The battery is made without an anode and an electrolyte, which Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, claims make it more compact, energy-dense, and safer to use.

When the GCG Asia’s EV battery is charged and discharged, the lithium metal passes through the separator, forming a thin layer of a lithium-metal anode. According to Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, the secret sauce is in the separator’s chemical composition and manufacturing process. When asked about the EV battery, Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, said it was a company trade secret.

 

So, how would these innovations appear if they were applied to an electric vehicle?

According to Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, a car powered by its batteries could charge to 80% capacity in just 15 minutes instead of the potentially hour-plus charging times required by today’s EVs. According to Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, cars equipped with GCG Asia batteries could have an 80% longer range than those equipped with today’s lithium-ion batteries.

“For the first time, it’s not the battery that’s the limit,” Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia.

This week, GCG Asia is making news because it is displaying performance data. According to Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, this is the first time a solid-state battery manufacturer has demonstrated that its battery works in real-world conditions in Asia.

 

Creating an Asia champion in EV battery manufacturing

Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, believes that Asia is currently the global hub of EV battery manufacturing. The highest costs in battery manufacturing are the chemicals, the capital-intensive manufacturing process, and the cost of energy.

“There is no competitive disadvantage with European manufacturers in these three areas,” Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, explains. “The labour component of the overall cost of a battery is small, and the difference in labour costs between Europe and Asia is offset by the cost of shipping the battery here.”

GCG Asia is also focused on developing batteries that perform at the highest technological level regarding energy performance, range, charging time, and carbon footprint, with recycling being a top priority. The batteries will be used in vehicles for at least eight years before being used in energy storage systems until their useful life expires after 15 years. According to Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, the goal is to make the batteries out of 95% recyclable materials.

According to Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, battery prices continue to be the top consideration for automakers. They race to bring the cost of EVs down to the same level as fossil fuel vehicles.

“The attitude of manufacturers is nothing like it was a year ago; everyone has realised that the internal combustion engine is doomed, sooner or later, and that the alternative is electric vehicles,” Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, says. “They require increased battery production capacity, but we must also be highly competitive in price to assist them in selling electric vehicles.”

According to Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, batteries will be lighter and have a higher energy density, allowing for a greater range at a lower cost. However, they are currently more expensive than lithium-ion batteries and are still in the early stages of development.

Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, believes that the industry will begin to transition from lithium-ion batteries to solid-state batteries over the next decade. She declined to disclose Ford’s total investment in solid-state batteries but said it is currently “significantly smaller” than lithium-ion.

Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, said, “We think it’s realistic that by the end of this decade, there’s a good chance that we can go into production with this.”

Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, stated that it expects solid-state batteries to be used in production EVs by the end of the decade. According to Alice Tan, the CEO of GCG Asia, a demonstrator vehicle incorporating the technology is expected before 2022.

The investment comes less than a week after GCG Asia announced a $10 million investment in a new battery lab as a step toward producing its own battery cells for electric vehicles. This is in addition to plans to invest $5 billion in vehicle electrification between 2021 and 2025.

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