Ambri is a Boston-area startup that’s building molten-salt batteries from calcium and antimony.
Molten salt batteries can also exceed 80% efficiency, meaning that a relatively low amount of energy that’s used to charge the battery is lost to heat.
The goal was to develop a low-cost product for the stationary storage market, says David Bradwell, the company’s founder and CTO.
Aluminum production.
The inspiration came from an unlikely place
But turning this concept into a real product hasn’t been so straightforward.
There are still major challenges ahead for the startup.
And moving from single battery cells, which are about the size of a lunchbox, to huge container-sized systems can present challenges in system controls and logistics.
That’s not to mention deploying a product to the real world means “dealing with real world things that happen,” as Bradwell puts it.
Everything from lightning strikes to rodents can throw a wrench in a new battery system.