Lithium metal battery with the 500 Wh/kg highest energy density

The representative company of lithium metal battery – Monta Vista

The information shows that the lithium metal battery production company is Monta Vista Energy Technology Corporation(Anhui), founded in 2018, is an innovative representative of a new generation of high energy density batteries.

The core team of the company is composed of scientific and technological talents and industrial elites from famous universities and enterprises. The team is capable of lithium metal battery technology innovation and large-scale product manufacturing, and has a number of internationally competitive leading technologies in the fields of lithium battery cathode and anode material design, electrolyte optimization, seperator modification, cell manufacturing and intelligent automated production.

In June 2021, the company achieved a major breakthrough in the energy density of 500Wh/kg for the new generation of lithium metal batteries. In November of the same year, the company signed an investment agreement with the local government for a new system power battery R&D and manufacturing base project, and the new system power battery R&D and manufacturing base project was officially settled. The project covers a total area of 13,000 square meters, and the company plans to invest 300 million RMB to expand the automated lithium metal battery production line suitable for lithium metal cathodes. On September 19 this year, the project automatic manufacturing line and z21 innovation laboratory were officially opened.

Now the automated lithium metal battery manufacturing dedicated production line is officially inaugurated, indicating that China’s 500Wh/kg high-end energy power battery product batch delivery capability has taken the leading position in the world, achieving a breakthrough from the laboratory stage (TRL3) to the product batch delivery stage (TRL6-8) for lithium metal batteries.

What is lithium metal battery

Lithium metal batteries are a battery technology that uses lithium metal as the anode. Lithium metal has a capacity of 3860 mAh/g, which is about 10 times that of graphite, and can be paired with existing high-capacity cathode systems.

Lithium metal batteries have been recognized as the optimal choice to significantly increase the energy density of current power batteries, and are also considered the ultimate form of high specific energy batteries. At present, there are two paths of lithium metal batteries: one is from liquid lithium-ion batteries to solid-state lithium batteries (using solid electrolyte, the anode is made of graphite or silicon carbon materials), and then further to lithium metal solid state battery, and the other is from liquid lithium-ion batteries to semi-solid lithium metal batteries, and then further to solid-state lithium metal batteries.

Experts said that with the global energy transition and upgrade, the battery life problem continues to drive the industry’s technological boundary expansion, which requires the battery energy density continues to climb. Lithium metal batteries use pure lithium metal cathode with ultra-high theoretical specific capacity and very low potential, which makes lithium metal batteries are expected to more than double the range of electric vehicles, is an important development direction of the current battery industry innovation breakthrough technology. Therefore, many capital and battery companies around the world have rushed to invest in lithium metal batteries.

Multiple companies invest in lithium metal batteries

In addition, two other battery companies have released lithium metal battery-related technologies and products. For consumer electronics, Golden Feather’s 850mAh&3.85V pending mass production products can improve 20% range; 900mAh&3.85V products in B-sample stage can improve 25% range. For power battery, its high energy density 360Wh/Kg completed B sample products can be applied to drones to improve the range by 20%; it can also improve the range of electric vehicles to 800km; 420Wh/Kg completed A sample products can improve the range of electric vehicles to 1200km.

SES’s lithium metal batteries are designed for automotive applications and have already received investment and cooperation from many of the world’s new energy giants. The company was founded in 2021, when it presented its first automotive-grade lithium metal battery, the Apollo Lithium Metal Battery, to the public. According to preliminary test data, the battery has a capacity of 107Ah and an energy density of 417Wh/kg, 935Wh/L, but weighs less than 1kg (only 0.982kg).

At the same time, SES as one of the top 10 solid-state battery companies is working on the joint development of A-sample with GM, Hyundai and Honda, and according to the plan, it will enter the development of B-sample next year, C-sample in 2024, and officially put into mass production in 2025. To help boost production capacity, the company’s super battery plant in Shanghai is under construction and is scheduled to be completed in 2023, making it the world’s largest lithium metal battery plant with a capacity of 1 GWh when completed.

In March this year, SES officially launched production and testing of its first A sample lithium metal battery in Shanghai. Currently, SES is expanding its R&D team at its Boston headquarters, while building a second production site in Korea to respond to the needs of more car companies. According to the plan, the company will build joint venture factories with car companies by 2025, with the goal of starting to invest in 10GWh in 2025 and further increasing production capacity to 30GWh by 2028. In addition, SAIC, Geely, Foxconn and other companies have invested in SES.

it is worth mentioning that recently, the media reported that scientists at Harvard University in the United States have developed a new type of solid-state lithium metal battery, which has achieved an amazing speed of being fully charged within 3 minutes in experimental tests. During its life cycle, it has more than 10,000 charge and discharge cycles and can last up to 20 years. The startup company Adden Energy has now announced that it has been granted an exclusive technology license by Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development to advance the technology for commercialization.

Summary

With the rapid development of the new energy industry, the market is in dire need of a new generation of battery systems. Lithium metal battery is just one of the widely favored routes, and more new battery technologies may emerge in the future. Comprehensive lithium metal battery technology of the above companies, the current 500 Wh/kg production line is one step ahead, but only time can verify who can first mass production applications and whether lithium metal batteries can fully adapt to the market demand for high performance and high safety.