Echion Technologies公司（以下简称“Echion”）成立于2017年3月，其技术基于现任CEO Jean de La Verpilliere在剑桥大学期间的博士研究，致力于开发可安全地实现锂离子电池超级快充的阳极材料。

Echion Technologies (“Echion”) was founded in March 2017, based on the PhD research of alumnus and now CEO, Jean de La Verpilliere and is focused on developing anode materials which will safely enable superfast charging lithium ion batteries.

在2015年底与剑桥大学技术转让和商业化机构Cambridge Enterprise接洽并与他们合作完成投资之后，Echion Technologies于2018年底完成了150万英镑的种子基金（由Cambridge Enterprise领衔），目前已经获得了150万英镑的政府拨款。

After engaging with Cambridge Enterprise, the technology transfer and commercialisation office of the University, in late 2015 and working with them to refine their investment case, Echion Technologies closed its £1.5M Seed Funding round (led by Cambridge Enterprise) at the end of 2018, having already secured £1.5M in Government Grants by this stage.

通过第一轮融资，Echion的增长速度超出了预期。“公司最初将设备和设施安置在了工程系内。但Echion在短短几个月内迅速发展，在2019年4月，我们搬入了剑桥郡索斯顿的全新工厂，” Jean回忆说。“而现在的增长速度很快，我们计划将设备和厂房面积再扩大一倍”

With its first round of funding, Echion grew faster than imagined. “The company initially housed its equipment and facilities within the Department. However, Echion quickly outgrew this space in a matter of months and in April 2019, we moved into brand new facilities in Sawston, Cambridgeshire,” recalls Jean. “And already, we’ve outgrown this space and are looking to expand our facilities and double our floorspace.”

在2019年底，Echion成功地达成了许多重要的行业合作，其中一项是与工程系以及Vantage Power公司（艾里逊变速箱旗下公司）合作的``适用于快速充电巴士的高功率阳极''，另一项是与工程系长期合作伙伴Johnson Matthey合作的“铌xEv阳极商业化路线图（CORNEA）”。Echion的材料可为锂离子电池提供超快的充电时间（6分钟充满），同时保证了安全，可靠且循环寿命长。当今的锂离子电池技术无法在没有任何严重妥协或缺点的情况下进行超快充电，而充电速度从根本上受到现有阳极技术的限制。“如今，锂离子电池中约有95％的阳极是基于石墨或与硅混合的石墨。其余的通常是“钛酸锂”（LTO），它们可以快速充电，但有其自身的缺点。Echion的混合氧化铌技术已被证明可有效替代高功率超快充电电池中的石墨和LTO阳极，因为它具有更高的能量密度以及其他关键优势，例如在零下20度时时仍可保持性能，或出色的电池安全性。”首席技术官Alex Groombridge说。

In late 2019, Echion Technologies successfully formalised a number of important industry collaborations, including one involving the Department of Engineering and Vantage Power (an Allison Transmission Company) 'High Powered Anodes for Fast Charging Buses' and another with long-time Department of Engineering collaborator, Johnson Matthey 'Commercialisation Roadmap for Niobium xEv Anodes (CORNEA)'. Echion’s materials enable superfast (6 minutes, full charge) charging lithium-ion batteries that are safe, reliable and have long cycle life. Today’s lithium-ion batteries cannot superfast charge without significant compromises or drawbacks and charging rate is fundamentally limited by existing anode technology. “Around 95% of anodes in lithium-ion batteries today are based on graphite or graphite mixed with silicon. The remainder are typically ‘Lithium Titanate’ or LTO, which can fast charge but has its own compromises. Echion’s Mixed Niobium Oxide technology is positioned and proven to be an effective replacement for Graphite and LTO anodes in high power, superfast charging cells as it provides greater energy densities amongst other key advantages, like retained performance at -20oC, or exceptional cell safety,” says Alex Groombridge, CTO.

安全可靠的超快充电电池，将通过以下方式提升电动汽车的充电速度和能源转换：

Safe and reliable superfast charging batteries are widely predicted to increase the uptake in electric vehicles and energy transition by:

对于任何新的电池材料和阳极开发而言，如何在完整的电池中进行应用并与适当的阴极技术相匹配都是一个巨大的挑战。为此，Echion已成功证明了其在3Ah聚合物电池和12.5 Ah电池（迄今为止最大的电池）中的超快充电能力。

A big challenge for any new battery material and anode development, is being able to demonstrate results in full cells, matched with an appropriate cathode technology. To this end, Echion has successfully demonstrated its superfast charging capabilities in 3Ah pouch cells as well as 12.5 Ah cells, their largest cells to date.