Boeing [BA] said on Monday that its HorizonX Ventures arm has made an investment in a small battery storage company that it believes could help with development of electric and hybrid propulsion systems for aircraft.
Boeing didn’t disclose the size of the investment, which is typically a minority position. A company spokeswoman told Defense Daily such investments range between “the single millions up [to] the low double-digit millions” of dollars, adding that the “investment in Cuberg is within that range.”
California-based Cuberg has four full-time employees and with the Boeing investment the company is “looking to grow significantly in the next few months,” Richard Wang, Cuberg’s CEO, told Defense Daily via an email response to questions. In a statement in Boeing’s announcement, Wang said his company will also be expanding its research and development facilities and scale up its “technology to fully automated production.”
In addition to HorizonX, a follow-on investment in Cuberg was made by Canada’s HPC Energy Services, an integrated oil and gas product and service company.
In addition to potential commercial aircraft and industrial applications, Wang told Defense Daily Cuberg is examining defense applications for the battery storage technology, which has “some particularly promising applications including batteries for soldier portable power, unmanned undersea vehicles, and airborne electrical systems/sensors.” He added that Cuberg is in “active contact” with the Army, Navy and Air Force.
On its website, Cuberg says the problem with lithium ion battery technology is inadequate storage, durability, and safety. The company says it is using materials for safe use of the technology, a design that enables recharging, and making it easy to manufacture.
“Cuberg’s battery technology has some of the highest energy density we’ve seen in the marketplace, and its unique chemistries could prove to be a safe, stable solution for future electric air transportation,” Steve Nordlund, vice president of Boeing HorizonX, said in a statement. The Boeing spokeswoman said that the company sees a role for the technology in defense applications too but that the primary focus is “our electric flight activities.”
Boeing launched HorizonX in April 2017 and the latest investment makes Cuberg the eighth in the venture’s portfolio that includes companies doing work in advance materials, autonomous systems, wearable-enable technologies, augmented reality systems, hybrid-electric propulsion, and artificial intelligence. Cuberg is the first investment in battery storage technology.