Michigan Startup’s Gemini Battery Powers Tesla For 752 Miles On A Single Charge

Range anxiety for electric vehicle owners? Not if a Novi, Michigan, startup can help it.

A technology company called Our Next Energy (ONE) says it’s demonstrated a prototype battery in an electric vehicle that traveled 752 miles without recharging. The experimental battery, retrofitted into a 2021 Tesla Model S, drove across Michigan in late December at an average speed of 55 mph, ONE says.

Next up is a new product called Gemini, “which will enable long distance trips on a single charge while improving cost and safety using sustainable materials,” Founder and CEO Mujeeb Ijaz said in a statement.

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News of the “paradigm shift” continues to travel more than two weeks after ONE announced the car’s trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and back.

According to the Detroit Free Press, ONE created an Aries EV battery using lithium iron phosphate that will be used in commercial trucks later this year. Gemini, the second battery, also uses the material. The company says it plans to start making the Aries in late 2022 and will demonstrate a production prototype Gemini battery in 2023.

“Elon Musk, are you listening?” Carol Cain, Free Press columnist, wrote on Twitter.

The Gemini battery aims to double the range that EV vehicles can go on a single charge. This can accelerate adoption of EVs if drivers don’t have to rely on charging stations as often, waiting in line to juice up or for a charge to finish.

The company notes on its website that 85% of all vehicles are taken on at least one annual trip longer than 300 miles. And 17% of all miles are accrued on trips longer than 100 miles.

Car and Driver notes that the 752-mile trip was during chilly winter temperatures on Dec. 17. Later, the Tesla Model S ran for 882 miles on a dynamometer on a single charge. Both trips were validated by a third party, ONE says.

Deeana Ahmed, a senior director at ONE, wrote on LinkedIn that the company’s team spent a few busy days debuting Gemini at the 2022 Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

ONE is young, founded in July 2020 by Ijaz, a battery systems engineers with more than 30 years of experience.

The company secured a $25 million Series A in October, with backing from high-profile investors including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, according to Automotive News.

Back then, a new release noted that Gemini uses “a proprietary energy management system and chemistry in a dual battery range extender architecture,” adding that “ONE calculates that this battery system will allow electric vehicles to travel more than 750 miles on a single charge.”

Felix Scheuffelen of Assembly Ventures, an investor, celebrated the latest news on LinkedIn by writing: “Gemini and Aries—a great match written in the stars.”