Thread for new battery breakthrough PR releases

[JRP3]

Not to be Debbie Downer but I don't know how many "breakthroughs" I've seen over the last 20+ years that went nowhere. I no longer get very excited unless it's a shipping product.

 

[neptronix]

Well lately.. some of this stuff is starting to trickle down.

Sodium Ion is progressing rapidly, some Chinese companies already have 200whrs/kg cells... up from around 120whrs/kg a few years ago.

Many big auto/battery companies are currently doing pilot production of solid state batteries in 2025-2026, planning for full scale in 2026-2028: CATL, LG, Samsung, BYD, VW, Honda, Toyota, BMW, and more.

Solid state is the best candidate for mainstream batteries having 1.5x-3.0x the density of current batteries. And supposedly, much better safety.

As for conventional lithium, we're just getting incremental upgrades.. latest generation cells hit 300whrs/kg.
But as for what you can buy, tabless cells seem pretty hot and we are starting to see availability.. finally, high density cylindrical cells can perform more like RC Lipo

 

[BlueSwordM]

3 D printing of dry cathode materials could dramatically reduce battery costs and allow better materials..

BTW, this isn't exactly new, and I don't know where they got their cost estimates last time.

I remember seeing this early last year, and their last press releases doesn't seem to have been updated since then.

All of their claims are legitimate, but we still didn't get teat cells.

 

[JRP3]

Well lately.. some of this stuff is starting to trickle down.

Sure, after many years of development.

 

[Hillhater]

Yes, that step from “development/prototype” to commercialisation, always seems to take a excessive time .

 

[neptronix]

Mercedes has a 450whrs/kg solid state battery in a car and is doing road tests as of feb.
Solid-state battery road tests begin | Mercedes-Benz Group

Nice to see the technology starting to move out of theoretical/press release land and into physical land

 

[pf26]

I think the Mercedes article states "up to 450 Wh/kg" and currently +25% autonomy, so I would tend to think the battery of the car under test now has around 300 Wh/kg. Or am I over pessimistic ?

 

[JRP3]

Factorial is the company making the cells Factorial Electrolyte System Technology | Factorial Energy

Seems to be "semi-solid state".

 

[JRP3]

A bit of digging suggests it may be around 390Wh/kg at the cell level:

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2024/10/20241024-stla.html

Comment section has some history on the company development:

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2023/01/20230107-factorial.html

 

[Pajda]

yes 391 Wh/kg and 770 Wh/l at cell level for semi-solid state 106 Ah pouch cell.

 

[BlueSwordM]

Here's something very nice for you all

Source: International Battery Seminar | March 17-20, 2025 | Orlando, FL

Man, this presentation will be golden:
2:20 Ultrafast Laser Processing of Battery Electrodes for Faster Charging and Improved Electrolyte and Electrode Wetting Ryan Tancin, Staff Scientist, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Ultrafast lasers can be used to create micro-structures in battery electrodes that provide homogeneous wetting and greatly improve high-rate charging. Our cost-analysis simulations using the Battery Performance and Cost model indicate that adoption of ultrafast-laser electrode processing adds minimal additional cell costs, approximately $1.50/kWh. We present a detailed characterization of experimental laser ablation for common battery electrodes, enabling informed choices of laser parameters and accurate predicting of processing throughput.