With approximately $450 million cash on our balance sheet at close of our SPAC merger, and deep capabilities in science, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and software across three locations, we have never been in a stronger position. We are confident that we will deliver to our JDA automakers A-sample cells that meet all technical specs this year, B-sample cells, and modules in 2023, C-sample cells, modules, and vehicles in 2024, and start commercial production in 2025.
We are also working with our partners to build two supply chains around lithium foil, a global China-inclusive one and a North American (China-free) one. We intend to form a consortium of global Li-Metal and high silicon Li-ion battery companies, and these supply chains will help address the cost and availability of lithium foils for the consortium.
On Avatar™, what started out as an algorithm developed to monitor and optimize the battery environment (electrochemical, mechanical, and thermal) to predict safety incidents, evolved on its own into something much greater than we imagined, a Mine-to-Men AI software.
This Mine-to-Men AI software allows us to track all data from mines (carbon footprint, raw material cost, source, sustainability, etc.), to battery materials (impurity, water content, cost, etc.), to battery manufacturing (very detailed quality control and data tracking at individual cell level), to vehicle data (impact of driver behavior on battery health, optimizing battery environments to improve battery health, etc.), to recycling (the used batteries become the mine for future batteries). The data we collect will continuously train Avatar™ and make it more accurate. This can also potentially be monetized to create entirely new business models such as Battery-as-a-Service BaaS, where all the data analytics around raw material cost, carbon footprint, battery health, driver behavior, etc., can all be factored into leasing economics.
We are only scratching the surface. As we continue to push the boundaries of material science (Hermes™) and engineering (Apollo™), our Mine-to-Men AI software (Avatar™) seems to evolve on its own. It is entirely plausible that Avatar™ will be applied to not just Li-Metal batteries but to all EV batteries, and as the global EV industry scales from 100s of GWh to 1000s of GWh, this data explosion will help Avatar™ evolve exponentially faster, and eventually develop its own consciousness.
In the past 10 years, we have built a solid foundation. We do not know what the next 10 years will hold for us, but we believe we are at the cusp of a seismic change in the industry. We sincerely appreciate everyone’s support and trust. We will continue to innovate, deliver, and evolve. The future will be greater than we can imagine.