Cell-Level Control to Enhance Battery Systems: Our Investment in Relectrify
The global energy storage market is expected to grow fifteen-fold by 2030, against the backdrop of increasing renewable penetration and the push for grid modernization. With that growth comes a need to improve battery life and performance to make new systems more efficient, while also expanding opportunities to repurpose used EV batteries — which is why we’re thrilled to announce our investment in Relectrify through the Toyota Ventures Climate Fund.
“Relectrify’s unique cell-level battery control technology has the potential to unlock significant cost, lifetime, safety and resilience benefits for battery systems, whether they are repurposed EV batteries or new stationary energy storage systems. We look forward to supporting the team as they contribute to decarbonization by reinventing the battery management system and inverter technology.”
— Lisa Coca, Partner, Toyota Ventures Climate Fund
Founded in 2015 by Valentin Muenzel (CEO) and Daniel Crowley (Vice President of Research & Development), Relectrify’s mission is to make energy storage more affordable and sustainable by extending battery life and reducing electronics costs for stationary energy storage systems. The company, based in Melbourne, Australia, developed patented battery technology that combines granular cell-level control software with a novel integrated battery management system (BMS) and inverter hardware solution, as illustrated below.
Relectrify’s integrated BMS + Inverter approach offers several key benefits, including significant cost savings, extended battery life, increased cell capacity, and improved resilience and safety. Unlike a traditional BMS, Relectrify’s power electronics hardware is installed directly to individual cells — removing the need for a standalone inverter to convert the Direct Current (DC) output into the Alternating Current (AC) input needed for electricity in homes, industrial use cases, and the energy grid. The result is up to 30 percent lower electronics costs for Relectrify’s solution compared to a standard BMS.
Another key advantage of Relectrify’s BMS+Inverter system is the ability to overcome the “weakest link” problem — where capacity is defined by the single weakest cell in the pack or module. Relectrify’s cell-level control can dynamically draw more energy from strong cells and less energy from weak cells via advanced algorithms, as shown below. This allows the cells across the pack to degrade gracefully in relative unison, increasing the overall system life by up to 30 percent.
Relectrify’s cell-level architecture increases battery resilience and safety by enabling the system to bypass individual cells that are failing or at risk of failing without hindering performance. It has been applied to second-life batteries where it also eliminates the need for costly testing and quality assurance making it more economically viable to repurpose used batteries from EVs, promoting a circular economy.
Global renewable electricity capacity is forecasted to rise by almost 75 percent between 2022 and 2027, and innovative solutions like Relectrify’s that reduce the cost and extend the life of stationary energy systems to store and distribute electricity are essential to enable the transition to renewable energy. Having proven its technology in its own ReVolve® battery energy storage product, Relectify plans to scale by working with partners to integrate its electronics components and co-develop products via licensing agreements.
Relectrify’s breakthrough technology has already been demonstrated in technical pilot projects, including with U.S. electric utility American Electric Power and New Zealand-based electricity provider Counties Energy, and we’re proud to support the Relectrify team as they enable lower cost, longer-life batteries to meet global energy storage needs. Toyota Ventures Climate Fund partner Lisa Coca and associate Ethan Sohn drove Toyota Ventures’ participation in leading Relectrify’s recent funding round, which includes participation from Creative Ventures, and previous investors such as Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Energy Innovation Capital, GS Futures, and EDP Ventures.
Visit the Relectrify website or the Toyota Ventures portfolio page to learn more.
