10085392DANCER (Designing Advanced Niobium anode Cells for Expedited Commercial Rollout)ClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKProject DANCER (Designing Advanced Niobium anode Cells for Expedited Commercial Rollout) brings together anode materials producer Echion Technologies ('Echion') and cell development experts at the Warwick Manufacturing Group ('WMG'), in an R&D project whose goal is to formulate a cell design package that will accelerate commercial adoption of Echion's battery material. This will fast-track the electrification of automotive applications, including on and off-highway vehicles such as mine haul trucks as well as buses, lorries and passenger vehicles including taxis, through the development of a high-value UK supply chain. The speed of charge of standard commercial lithium-ion batteries is severely limited by the negative terminal material which is used to store electricity upon charge, called the anode. Echion is a high-growth company who spun-out of Cambridge University in 2017 to commercialise proprietary fast-charging battery material called XNO. XNO enables a unique combination of safe fast charge (down to 6 min for a full charge), high power density, long cycle life, a large optimum temperature range and improved safety, without sacrificing energy density. The DANCER project aims to lift the performance limitations of standard lithium-ion batteries thanks to innovations at the anode material level by Echion and expertise at the electrode and cell-level by WMG. Project DANCER partners anticipate the development of a unique cell design aimed to meet increased life cycle and high temperature performance specifications as provided by Echion's customers. This will be in an end-user design that meets their requirements and surpasses the techno-commercial requirements of the 2025+ automotive market, advancing the UK towards its net zero commitment through automotive electrification. Developing this cell design package will increase the competitiveness, industry perception and time to market of Echion's XNO material by proving the concept on the smaller scale. The DANCER project will be a fantastic starting point to create market pull for these technologies and unlock further investments for its commercialisation. Project DANCER has the potential to enable more efficient and cost-effective electric vehicles and to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, which is in line with the government Road to Zero strategy. It will provide significant environmental and public health benefits in terms of reduction of CO2 emissions and harmful particulates from the transport sector, together with socio-economic benefits of anchoring high added value supply chains with global technology leadership in the UK.