Toyota Uses Artificial Intelligence to Hunt for New Battery and Fuel Cell Materials

Toyota turned to AI for help in the hunt for new battery materials and fuel cell catalysts.
Electric and hydrogen fuel-cell cars are able to drastically reduce carbon emissions. This requires better batteries and fuel cells and Toyota thinks that AI could be the key for this. Toyota Research Institute (TRI) is investing approximately $35 million into this project over the next four years. They will team up with various companies and institutions, such as MIT and Stanford University, to use Artificial Intelligence techniques, like machine learning. The aim of this program is to help revolutionize materials science and find much more advanced battery materials. Researchers are able to reduce the time that takes to invent new materials they want to use for future zero-emission and carbon –neutral vehicles.

TRI Chief Science Officer Eric Krotkov said, “Toyota recognizes that artificial intelligence is a vital basic technology that can be leveraged across a range of industries, and we are proud to use it to expand the boundaries of materials science. Accelerating the pace of materials discovery will help lay the groundwork for the future of clean energy and bring us even closer to achieving Toyota’s vision of reducing global average new-vehicle CO2 emissions by 90 percent by 2050.”

This initial project involves cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, the University at Buffalo, the University of Connecticut, , and the U.K.-based materials science company Ilika. TRI is also in other ongoing discussions with other further partners.

“This represents a fantastic opportunity to drastically advance the use of databases and machine learning methods in materials discovery,” said Jens Norskov, Professor at Stanford University and director of the SUNCAT center. “The partnership combines theory, computation and experiment in an unprecedented, concerted effort. We are particularly excited by prospects for an avant-garde approach to catalyst development for fuel cells.”

Research programs will have parallel paths. This means working on identifying new materials that can be used in the future energy systems, and developing tools and processes to improve the design and expansion of new materials in general.

Toyota became a leading manufacturer of eco-friendly vehicles thanks to the Prius. The company declared that it has already sold 10 million hybrid cars since January this year. Toyota works on fuel cell-powered cars as well. It also announced that is building its first all-electric vehicle.