Can you introduce us to Blue Solutions?
Blue Solutions belongs to the industrial branch of the Bolloré Group. Based in France, Canada and California, the company has been designing and manufacturing so-called “all-solid” technology batteries for automotive and stationary applications since 2011. Our first research work in the field of batteries dates back to the late 1980s. A succession of activities, particularly in the field of supercapacitors, led to the creation of the company in the 2000s. We are experts in electrochemical, the only ones in the world to master the key locks in the industry, which are polymer electrolyte, thin metal lithium, and the management of their interfaces.
Cells, which we often hear about, are at the heart of the system. We manufacture them, then we assemble them in the form of modules and packs. Beyond that, we develop the necessary software solutions for the proper functioning of the system. Blue Solutions has dominated this entire value chain since 2011. I would like to salute the talent of our 400 women and men, scientists, engineers and technicians who make Blue Solutions a unique player in its field.
What is a completely solid battery?
Today, all conventional lithium-ion batteries on the market consist of a liquid electrolyte. This technology has certain disadvantages during its manufacture, during its use, but also at the end of its life. In particular, the manufacturing process for lithium-ion batteries is expensive and the risks of thermal runaway are high.
Our battery solution replaces the liquid component with completely solid technology. The architecture of our high-performance battery is based on the mastery of polymers, fine metallic lithium, and the management of their chemical interfaces. This technology is clean: it does not require organic solvents or heavy metals, such as nickel or cadmium.
What are the advantages of this new technology?
One of the great advantages of the solid-state battery is the greater autonomy it gives to the electric vehicle. This autonomy is one of the main obstacles to the purchase of this type of vehicle. We bring a solution to this thanks to our battery capable of storing more energy in the same volume.
Plus, unlike lithium-ion batteries that age a lot and lose their charge capacity over the course of their life, our batteries are designed to last longer without loss of capacity.
Its manufacturing process is also simpler and less expensive: it is estimated that a gigafactory of solid-state batteries will cost around 30% less than those built today.
What place do you give to the environment in your battery production?
We are fully committed to respecting the environment: we master and consider the entire product life cycle, from its design to its end of life. Our batteries do not contain polluting materials such as heavy and rare metals. Even during its manufacturing process, we do not use organic solvents.
In addition, our batteries have a high recyclability potential. In fact, Blue Solutions has launched an R&D program dedicated to recycling all solid-state batteries, which makes it possible to recover up to 95% of the lithium that composes them and reinject it into the production chain.
How are these new batteries developed?
We design long lasting batteries that will have minimal impact on the environment. They are designed with the goal of being recycled at the end of their life, recovering the raw materials for reuse or deploying them in second-life applications. In short, the entire life cycle is taken into account.
400 scientists, engineers and technicians design our technologies. We have extensive development and testing resources in Quimper and Montreal, as well as an advanced research unit in Palo Alto, California.
In order to accelerate these developments with the best talents in the world, strategic collaborations are established in particular with the academic world. For example, we have recently approached the CNRS laboratories, the LEPMI (Laboratory of Electrochemistry and Physicochemistry of Materials and Interfaces) in Grenoble and the IMN (Institut des Matériaux de Nantes). The objective is to eliminate the blockages that are the interactions between the different materials of a totally solid cell and the aging phenomena to make these cells even more durable.
In addition, we are working to form collaborations with manufacturers and manufacturers from the automotive world to fine-tune our developments and position them as close as possible to the needs of upcoming electric vehicle platforms.
Where is Europe in terms of gigafactories? And France?
France and Europe have a unique opportunity in the value chain of batteries for electric vehicles. This is illustrated by numerous gigafactory projects, particularly in the north of France.
But did you know that there is already a megafactory in the west of France, in Quimper, and this for more than 10 years? This is Blue Solutions. We have equipped vehicles that have covered more than 500 million km in total.
Now we will scale to meet the needs of an exponentially growing market. In this transition to the Gigafactory, we obviously rely on experience and an already installed industrial tool. Now I would like to share with you my vision of the Gigafactory: it must be local, as close as possible to the customers, in line with the company’s environmental and social ambitions.
In fact, Blue Solutions does not consider gigafactories as giant factories. In our opinion, European gigafactories must be consistent with sustainable development policies. We will have to reduce the transport of products in and out, build factories on a human scale, respect the well-being of employees at work and be closer to our customers.
The first European factory of this type will probably be in France, in Quimper!
By 2035, the electric car will be mandatory. What are the production challenges around this deadline?
2035 and the obligation in Europe to produce only electric vehicles is a great revolution. And it’s already tomorrow. The main challenges will be to make electrification technologies, including batteries, accessible to all. A great need is also expressed in the availability of charging infrastructures and their reliability.
It will also be necessary to secure the entire value chain, from the extraction of raw materials to the end of the battery’s useful life. For this, a new ecosystem must be built: training of new skills, creation of new companies, creation of alliances, new ways of recycling, etc.
As for recycling, we have our own process, which we recently patented.
Do you have a last word?
There is strong political will in France and in Europe to support entrepreneurs working on electrification. This must continue and the support of locally established major players such as Blue Solutions must be strengthened, because we are working to meet the significant challenges of low carbon mobility and pollution reduction.
This content was produced with SCRIBEO. The BFMBUSINESS editorial team was not involved in the production of this content.
Source: BFM TV
