25th Jan 2023
DG Innovate, the advanced research and development company pioneering sustainable and environmentally considerate improvements to electric mobility and energy storage, is pleased to provide an update on the Company’s development and commercialisation strategy for its suite of technologies.
As previously announced, DGI Innovate (DGI) is working in collaboration with Meritor, the US-headquartered global commercial vehicle components company, to deliver a scalable 250 kW/400 kW format of the Company’s Pareta® electric drive platform, aimed at bus and HGV applications. The advanced prototypes produced have demonstrated good performance to date versus existing electric motor systems from global motor manufacturers, and cycle testing and optimisation continues. Work on the next design iterations is now underway, with the DGI targeting delivery in Q2 2023. This is intended to prove the viability of DGI’s commercial proposition to potential customers.
Following the successful completion of this stage, DGI intends to undertake a phase of pilot manufacturing and industrial engineering. This work will be part-funded by the ‘Scale up Readiness Validation of Parallel Motor for Automotive Applications’ (“SUPAR”) project, which was awarded by the UK Government’s Advanced Propulsion Centre (“APC”), as announced on 9 September 2022. Completion of the associated pilot facility is targeted for 2024.
DGI has also been awarded funding for, and has commenced work on, the MTorX project, which is exploring the potential of a motor design with no permanent magnet. Magnet supply chains are currently a significant issue for global motor manufacturing, with a magnetless design capable of comparable performance to traditional technologies expected to be of significant interest to OEMs.
In addition, DGI was recently awarded grant funding for a feasibility study into a larger 3 MW Pareta® e-drive for marine operations, with work on this study now underway. The Company believes the enhanced reliability, performance and compact nature of its novel motor technology would be very appealing to marine operators.
DG Innovate’s long-term relationship with the UK Ministry of Defence also continues to develop positively.
DGI continues to explore multiple potential routes to market for its Enhanced Drive Technology, and in addition to ongoing commercial discussions with its existing collaboration partners, it has recently entered into positive dialogue with new potential customers and partners concerning both product supply and partnerships. These include another Tier 1 supplier to the global commercial vehicle sector and a number of systems integration companies.
Development of the DGI’s proprietary hard carbon anode materials continues. DGI’s anode materials are produced from a sustainable bio waste product and are specifically developed for use in sodium-ion batteries. As previously noted, sodium-ion batteries offer an attractive sustainable alternative to lithium-ion, using more abundant materials, with lower carbon footprints and less environmental impact from extraction.
The previously announced Cap-Size project, which is to carry out a feasibility study for the evaluation of manufacturing the Company’s sodium-ion anode material at scale in the UK, is underway. In addition, DGI’s anode material passed a significant scale-up milestone this month when it was successfully used on the industrial scale coater at the Company’s cell manufacturing partner. This key milestone serves as a proof-of-principle for coating on ‘Giga-factory’ lines and is a significant step towards full-scale commercial production.
The next milestone on DGI’s development pathway is now expected to be a scale-up to produce 40 Ah cells in a format that serves plug-In hybrid electric vehicles, as the Company builds the business case for full scale anode manufacture in the UK. In parallel, the EU passed a law in December 2022 stating that all battery manufacturers must now publish a full carbon footprint analysis of their whole supply chain, including manufacture of active anode and cathode materials, before allowing the sale of cells. DGI believes this further strengthens the appeal of DG Innovate’s low carbon footprint sustainable anode
Commercial discussions continue with potential customers and partners regarding the Company’s anode material. Subject to a successful conclusion to the Company’s scale-up activities, DG Innovate is continuing to evaluate in-house material production as a route to market. However, the Company still intends to primarily pursue a licensing model.
This technology update is part of a wider company update to announce a subscription to raise gross proceeds of £400,000 (the “Fundraise”), a broker option to enable existing shareholders to participate in the fundraise for up to an additional £100,000 (the “Broker Option”), and to provide an update on the Company’s development and commercialisation strategy for its suite of technologies, together with announcing certain other corporate matters. This announcement can be viewed in full here.
