Bennet Tours State-of-the-Art Electric Vehicle Battery Research Facility and Manufacturing Line at Solid Power in Louisville

Press Release

Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet toured the research facility and manufacturing line at Solid Power in Louisville with Solid Power executives, scientists, and engineers to learn more about the startup's innovative technology that will help power electric vehicles--a key climate and clean air solution. Bennet also met with Solid Power's senior executive team to discuss their latest all solid-state battery technology, as well as how the start-up could benefit from federal policies that would help incentivize electric vehicle adoption, increase charging infrastructure, and implement new tax credits--helping cleantech companies succeed on a global scale.

"I enjoyed touring the impressive research facility and manufacturing line at Solid Power. Colorado cleantech companies like Solid Power are critical to solving our climate crisis and to our economic recovery," said Bennet. "In the process, they are also creating new businesses and jobs--economic growth that helped to power our last recovery and that will be equally important to this one."

"Solid Power's approach to manufacturing is to use the same processes and equipment currently used in lithium-ion production, thereby enabling a very low-cost and low-risk path to the scale-up of our next-generation all solid-state batteries," said Brandon Kelly, Vice President of Engineering at Solid Power. "This allows Solid Power to enter the automotive market much more quickly and compete cost-effectively worldwide."

"Next-generation battery technology will play a crucial role in the adoption of electric vehicles," said Dave Jansen, President of Solid Power. "Supporting the transition to an electrified future is key to competing on a global scale, while also helping to enable a sustainable clean energy economy."

In July 2020, Bennet joined an amicus brief filed in support of state authority to implement stronger clean car standards----such as Colorado's 2019 adoption of zero-emission vehicle standards. These state "ZEV" standards are a major driver of greater interest in electric vehicles in the U.S--expanding the market for batteries like those made by Solid Power.

In 2019, Bennet cosponsored the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act, which would make energy storage eligible for investment tax credits currently available to clean energy generation. In June 2018, Bennet introduced and passed the Energy Storage for Rural America Act, which allows energy storage----including batteries----to qualify for grants and loan guarantees under the Rural Energy for America Program.

Established in 2012 and spun-out from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2014, Solid Power is a developer of solid-state rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and mobile power markets.

This technology allows for batteries that:

· Are safer and more stable across a broad temperature range
· Have a 50-100% increase in energy density compared to current rechargeable batteries
· Enable a cheaper, more energy-dense battery pack design
· Are compatible with traditional lithium-ion manufacturing processes.
Solid Power has ongoing joint development agreements with both BMW and Ford to develop all solid-state batteries that allow for the potential doubling of drivable miles on a single charge.

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