BorgWarner is expanding into battery packs and has recently invested in battery startup Romeo Power. BorgWarner is a large automotive supplier specializing in powertrain components, while Romeo Power is a battery pack startup founded by former engineers at Tesla and SpaceX. This time, the two companies will also establish a new joint venture to sell pure electric drivetrains.
The EV revolution will affect not only automakers but also the entire supply chain. Several large companies such as Bosch and Continental have invested billions of dollars to provide a range of products for electric vehicle projects.
Romeo has hired several engineers from Tesla, SpaceX, Apple and Samsung to start its energy storage system. One of the engineers, Porter Harris, worked on SpaceX's battery development project and also joined Faraday Future in November 2014 as the "Chief Battery Designer".
Romeo Power's founder and CEO Michael Patterson leads the company, and Harris leads the engineering team. Harris is the chief designer of several world-class battery packs, such as SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket Batteries, Cargo Dragon Spacecraft Batteries, and Crew Dragon Spacecraft Batteries).
Harris said that they used their experience in energy storage systems in space and aerospace applications to build Romeo's energy storage system and developed a modular battery pack system using cylindrical lithium-ion batteries. Today, most electric vehicles on the road use battery packs or square batteries, while Tesla electric vehicles use cylindrical batteries (Tesla first adopted such batteries on its Roadster many years ago).
Today, Romeo Power is supported by BorgWarner, a major automotive supplier. BorgWarner will invest in the startup with a 20% stake. The exact amount is unknown, and it will also get two seats on the startup's board. In addition, Romeo Power will establish a joint venture with BorgWarner. Romeo Power owns 40% of the shares and BorgWarner owns 60%. The joint venture will initially focus on battery packs for high-performance and light vehicles. business. After the usual closing conditions are met, the equity investment and joint venture are expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2019.
Romeo boldly claims that its technology exceeds its competitors:
The highest energy density: Romeo Power's technology makes its battery pack 25% more energy dense than existing lithium-ion battery packs, which greatly increases the range of electric vehicles;
Fastest charging speed: Romeo Power's technology has the highest thermal performance, optimizing the charging time and reducing the charging time of standard batteries by 15% to 30%;
Superior safety: The design of the battery pack has inherent thermal runaway mitigation functions, and provides multiple fault-tolerant software and hardware, which can effectively block the short-circuit battery from contacting other batteries in the battery pack.
Last year, Romeo Power also built a new manufacturing plant near downtown Los Angeles.