Industrial-scale pilot plant for production of high-performance battery electrolytes

The first pilot production line for high-performance battery electrolytes is set to commence operations at the FUCHS location in Kaiserslautern in October 2022. The globally operating FUCHS Group first announced its investment in E-Lyte Innovations GmbH back in May. After just a short construction period, the state-of-the-art and flexible pilot plant will soon be ready to begin production. With this investment, FUCHS has entered the fast-growing market for electrolytes - a market which is set to become increasingly important, particularly in Europe, since electrolytes represent a key component of the lithium-ion batteries used in countless applications, including e-mobility.

"With the plant developed specifically for the dynamic battery market, we are able to produce and supply a very wide range of formulations for the customers of E-Lyte both quickly and at the highest quality," comments Kay-Peter Wagner, Managing Director at FUCHS LUBRICANTS GERMANY GmbH. FUCHS and E-Lyte are also cooperating on establishing the requisite production infrastructure to facilitate localization and industrialization, as well as further growth.

By implementing this project, E-Lyte will become the first German company capable of supplying the European battery market with one of its most important components from a European production base.

"It’s our goal to help make the European battery value chain less dependent on world political events as soon as possible”, said E-Lyte CEO Dr. Ralf Wagner. “A local supply chain for electrolyte solutions are also essential for another very important reason. An electrolyte has a limited shelf life, which can be limited to only a few months, depending on the complexity of the composition”, he adds.

Additionally to the pilot plant, a state-of-the-art production facility will also be constructed in Kaiserslautern. Once up and running, this new plant will be capable of producing several thousand tons of electrolyte per year. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.
 

Mannheim, September 22, 2022
 

FUCHS PETROLUB SE
Public Relations
Einsteinstraße 11
68169 Mannheim
Tel. +49 (0)621 3802-1104
[email protected] 
www.fuchs.com/gruppe 
 

The following information can be accessed via the Internet:
 

Press Release: "FUCHS strengthens e-mobility business and enters the battery market"

Image and video material: www.fuchs.com/de-de/photo-gallery/
 

About FUCHS

Founded in 1931 as a family business in Mannheim, FUCHS is now the world's largest independent supplier of innovative lubrication solutions, covering almost every industry and application. Today, the company's 6,000 employees in over 50 countries still share the same goal: to keep the world moving both sustainably and efficiently. To live up to this claim, we think in terms of perfection, not merely standards. When developing individual solutions, we enter into an intensive customer dialogue – acting as an experienced consultant, innovative problem solver and reliable team partner.
 

About E-Lyte Innovations
E-Lyte Innovations GmbH operates out of the city of Münster in Germany, where it develops and produces groundbreaking electrolytes for modern energy storage technologies with a focus on specific requirements. The company was founded in 2019 as a startup, splitting away from the MEET Battery Research Center at the University of Münster (WWU). It was supported by the EXIST Transfer of Research pre-seeding program, which itself is financed both by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the European Social Fund. The mission is to develop and produce the perfect electrolyte solution for all energy storage systems. The team currently has sixteen members.