Germany-based chemicals group BASF has invested $50m to take a stake in Sion Power Corporation, a maker of lithium-sulphur batteries.
The investment on Thursday follows a joint development agreement signed between BASF and Sion in 2009 to accelerate the commercialisation of Sion’s batteries for electric vehicles.
Ralf Meixner, BASF’s senior vice-president of Battery Materials, said: "Through our investment and collaboration with Sion, we are positioned to take a leadership role in developing next-generation battery material solutions, further supporting the effort to make electric cars affordable, environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Frank Bozich, president of BASF’s global catalysts division, said: "Our investment in Sion Power supports our long-term objective of becoming the leading provider of functional materials and components to serve cell and battery manufacturers worldwide."
In April 2010 Sion received a $5m grant from the United States’s Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency. This followed it receiving an $800,000 research grant from the Department of Energy in 2009.
Sion had previously received a Small Business Innovation Research grant from NASA. It was a spin-off from Brookhaven National Laboratories, and incorporated as Moltech Corporation in 1994. The name of the company was changed to Sion Power in 2002.