Toshiba Presents SCiB Nb Battery with Niobium Titanium Anode

The SCiB™ Nb is the world’s first rechargeable lithium-ion battery with a niobium titanium oxide (NTO) anode. This advance gives it a volumetric energy density comparable to carbon-based lithium-ion rechargeable batteries with lithium iron phosphate cathodes (LFP batteries), the current battery of choice for electric vehicles, plus distinct advantages in rapid charging and a long life. The SCiB Nb achieves an 80% charge in just 10 minutes, and even with repeated rapid partial charging it has an estimated lifespan of 15,000 cycles.

Toshiba is working in close collaboration with two strategic partners, Brazil’s CBMM, the world's largest producer and seller of niobium, and Japan’s Sojitz Corporation, one of CBMM's shareholders and CBMM's sole agent for the Japanese market where it has built a stable niobium titanate supply system and cultivates applications, and is now ready to bring this rapid-charging, long-life product to market. The partnership will initially target use in commercial e-vehicles where high availability and operating rates are essential, particularly electric buses and trucks.

Achieving carbon neutrality requires the electrification of all mobility and power devices, driving demand for rapid charging to enhance battery availability and ensure high operating rates. Toshiba’s new SCiB Nb supports rapid charging, and is ideal for commercial e-vehicles like e-buses and e-trucks that operate on specified routes with high utilization rates. Frequent charging at designated points along the route allows reductions in number of installed batteries, while long-life performance is expected to lower the total cost of ownership by decreasing the need for frequent battery replacements due to degradation.

Carbon-based lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, particularly LFP batteries, can provide the required energy density, but repeated rapid charging causes lithium deposition at the anode, raising the danger of safety-compromising short circuiting in the cell, particularly as the batteries start to degrade. However, the NTO anode of the SCiB Nb, like the lithium titanate anode of the SCiB, does not cause metal lithium deposition and can be used safely for a long time, even with repeated rapid charging.

Under a joint development agreement, Toshiba, CBMM and Sojitz Corporation have promoted sales and marketing activities to build a supply chain. They have also conducted real-world demonstration experiments with a prototype e-bus fitted with the new battery at the CBMM industrial plant in Araxá, Brazil. The 50Ah laminate cell about to come to market is expected to find use in commercial e-vehicles, plus ships and stationary battery storage systems. Toshiba will continue to actively develop the SCiB and SCiB Nb businesses and to contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society.

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