Prieto Battery unveils technology that can charge in 3 minutes

Amy Prieto can't help the broad smile that crosses her face when asked if her advanced nontoxic lithium-ion battery technology is a game changer for electric vehicles, battery-powered lawn and garden equipment, and power tools.

"I'm so excited and proud. Yes, it is a game changer."

Nearly 15 years after Prieto launched Prieto Battery Inc., the Fort Collins-based company is on the precipice of changing how the world views battery technology.

Last week, Prieto unveiled the most recent prototype of its 3D battery that is nonflammable and can charge in three minutes, even in extreme temperatures.

All three attributes were recently tested and validated by a third-party accredited battery testing lab.

"Prieto's battery will charge faster than you can fill your car's gas tank," said Prieto CEO Mike Rosenberg. "When you charge your car faster than gassing up, range is no longer a hindrance and everyone becomes a potential EV buyer."

Consumers will likely see Prieto batteries in power tools before they see them in electric vehicles, thanks to investment from Stanley Ventures, the venture arm of tool giant Stanley Black & Decker, which has invested in Prieto Battery since 2016.

Think about how you use your power garden tools or power tools: drills, leaf blowers, trimmers, and such, with their heavy, clunky battery packs. You might have one or two backup batteries in case one dies in the middle of a project. "It's frustrating to have to stop and wait," Prieto said.

If the battery could recharge in three minutes, you could be back to work in no time, with no need for additional batteries. And with a battery that can be made in any shape, "it changes how you think about the device." Instead of using just the base of the drill for the battery, put some in the handle to make it not so clunky, she said.

Making the leap from power tools to a battery pack for cars is a big jump and takes a long time to get through testing and safety requirements set by the auto industry. Getting the technology into power tools can be a more rapid rollout.

"Part of our focus is trying to get into devices that don't currently have an all-electric version," she said. "We are trying to identify the best entry point."

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Prieto Battery's 3D architecture is different than other batteries, which use 2D structure that "must always compromise between energy storage and fast charging," Rosenberg said. Energy flows in one direction across a two-dimensional plane, he explained. To charge, lithium ions must flow from one surface to the other, resulting in "serious limitations," he said.

The core of the Prieto battery looks like a thin copper sponge, and the ions only have to travel from one strand to the next, a fraction of the distance in traditional 2D batteries, Prieto said. That takes charging "to hyper-speed and delivers more power and energy storage."

From the start, Prieto focused on the "trifecta" of performance metrics: fast charging, temperature and safety, she said. "We all saw last winter with our crazy storms, the cold highlighted the challenges EVs have charging in low temperatures." The Prieto battery is nonflammable, can fully charge in three minutes and charge 50% in 90 seconds in temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit and hot as 212.

"It's so fast you don't have to change your daily habits," she said. And when functional in vehicles, it could make distance limitations a thing of the past.

As the company now focuses on commercialization and bringing its battery to consumers, it is looking for a site to build a pilot manufacturing facility. While a site has not yet been identified, Prieto said staying in Colorado, or even Fort Collins, where the company was born at Colorado State University, is a possibility. "We would love to stay in Colorado so we can be near our research and development," she said.

There are no cost estimates for a new facility yet, but it will be lower than most battery manufacturers because of the components. These batteries are made from "low-cost, sustainable materials" using water-based electroplating processes at room temperature, and the process does not require dry rooms, clean rooms or other expensive equipment, she said.

"From day one, I prioritized manufacturing ahead of the battery design, and I knew to reimagine the battery, we would first have to simplify production to scale up quickly, efficiently and affordably," Prieto said. "There's no point in making the world's coolest battery" if you can't manufacture it reliably and affordably.

Now the company is at the point where "we are quite confident of the science and engineering," she said. "We need to build a pilot manufacturing facility to show we can truly work at scale and that we can do that part a lot faster."