February 5, 2019 | Ultracapacitor maker Maxwell Technologies has been acquired by Tesla, likely for dry electrode intellectual property. For just $218 million, Tesla is well on its way to better batteries and energy distribution systems for its vehicles, TechSpot reports.
Maxwell claims that its electrode enables an energy density of over 300 Wh/kg in current demonstration cells and they see a path to over 500 Wh/kg, according to Electrek.
Improving battery performance has been the holy grail for electronic vehicle (EV) makers, and with so many companies now vying for attention, the race is on to make sure drivers don’t need to charge their cars as often. It’s little surprise, then, that Tesla had its eye on Maxwell, Engadget writes—after all, the company has lots of experience with traditional lithium-ion batteries. Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, has long been interested in ultracapacitors and their potential, and the Maxwell acquisition might give Musk the talent needed to try them out in future vehicles.
