Solid-state battery: The Holy Grail in battery research

&#;the year when decisions have to be made

According to the Solid-State Battery study from Yole Développement, the first batteries could be available from and by , production could increase to 2.36 GWh&#;which, however, is still a small volume compared to overall demand for lithium-ion batteries. Mass production of vehicles with solid-state batteries is not expected before . According to IDTechex, the market could grow to USD 8 billion by . A market which will no longer be mainly an &#;Asian&#; issue but will have become a global affair with regional interests and government subsidies. However, analysts do not expect to see a major swing to solid-state batteries quite as soon.

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The pioneers

But in some cases, things do seem to be moving at a faster pace. For instance, BMW recently promised the first prototypes of electric cars with solid-state batteries &#;well before &#;. The Solid Power partners plan to deliver the first qualification tests with 100-Ah cells already in . With conventional lithium-ion processes, multi-layer solid-state batteries already run with 20 ampere hours (Ah) capacity from a roll-to-roll production line.

Chinese startup NIO is more advanced and has announced that the ET7&#;the first mass-produced vehicle with a solid-state battery&#;will be launched on the Chinese market at the end of . The company claims that the solid-state battery installed in the top-of-the-range model, with an energy density of 360 Wh/kg, will give the vehicle a range of kilometers. However, the CEO recently stated in an interview that it is actually a &#;semi-solid-state battery&#;.

Twenty-one Mercedes-Benz eCitaro electric buses have been in use at ESWE Verkehr, the public transport provider in Wiesbaden, Germany, with &#;complete&#; solid-state batteries since the beginning of February. The batteries were supplied by the Bolloré subsidiary Blue Solutions. They are based on a solid electrolyte, a lithium-metal anode and a standard cathode, as in conventional Li-ion batteries &#; apart from the fact that iron phosphate is used instead of NMC (lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese). However, depending on the application, the LMP batteries have to be operated at temperatures between 50 and 80 degrees Celsius.

At CES , another pioneer, Taiwan-based battery cell producer ProLogium, presented a solid-state battery for electric cars, electric buses, and electric two-wheeled vehicles. Its partners are the Chinese automaker Nio and EnovatE.

And what is Tesla doing? Elon Musk is backing better lithium-ion batteries with liquid electrolytes such as those from CATL&#;at least that is the official statement. However, Martin Eberhard, co-founder and former CEO of Tesla, recently observed that the solid-state electrolyte technology from ProLogium was the most exciting new development that he had seen in this area.

Q&A with engineer Chengcheng Fang 

Michigan State University is one of the top 100 research universities in the world and a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, widely regarded as among the top research-intensive institutions in North America. The following story highlights one of the many examples of MSU&#;s research excellence and innovation.

Chengcheng Fang is an assistant professor in the College of Engineering and recently was named a Innovator Under 35 by the science and technology magazine MIT Technology Review.

Q: What is the difference between a lithium-ion battery and a lithium metal battery?

Chengcheng Fang

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A: The lithium metal battery has a different chemistry. In a lithium-ion battery, graphite is used as the anode, one of the two electrodes in a battery, to host lithium ions during battery charge and discharge. In a lithium metal battery, we use lithium metal as the anode, which offers more than 10 times higher capacity than that of graphite.

Q: Why are lithium metal batteries considered the &#;holy grail&#; of batteries?

A: Our lives have been changed a lot by modern lithium-ion battery technologies from laptops, cell phones and electric vehicles, or EVs. But lithium-ion technologies have reached their theoretical energy-density limit after more than 30 years of development. The new type of battery I am working on &#; the lithium metal battery &#; is the &#;holy grail&#; of battery technology because it could provide the highest possible energy density, potentially double that of lithium-ion batteries. This means we could get double the mileage of an EV on a single charge.

Q: What are the current challenges to lithium metal battery technology?

A: Producing batteries with high energy density is important, as people have &#;mileage anxiety&#; about how far they can travel on a single charge in an EV. A fast-charging cycle is another goal because no one wants to have to wait an hour for their car to charge. In places like Michigan, issues with low temperature performance can also be an issue. The current EV battery technologies can easily lose 30% of their mileages in winter. Safety is also a concern because the batteries can be explosive. These are the very urgent technical challenges that our material scientists and battery engineers need to solve right now.

Q: Why is this research important?

A: We want to enable viable commercial application of this very attractive battery technology, which will make EVs attractive to millions of consumers to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. Globally, many countries are announcing plans to replace all the gasoline-based vehicles with EVs in the next decade. The global EV market is projected to reach nearly $824 billion by . The new electric car technology can reduce humanity&#;s carbon footprint and fight climate change, and benefit society in many aspects, like creating millions of jobs associated with clean energy storage technologies and enhancing the resilience of modern cities.

Q: Why is MSU the best place for this research?

A: Fighting climate change is one of the important goals of the MSU Strategic Plan. Sharing the same vision, our research on developing next-generation battery technologies is receiving support and recognition in many ways. MSU has built and keeps building state-of-the-art research facilities. Being in Michigan, we have the opportunity to work with electric vehicle experts in the industry who share their goals. General Motors is bringing $2.6 billion to build a battery manufacturing facility in the Lansing area. I believe now is the time our Spartan engineers can solve many of the historically challenging problems with lithium metal batteries.

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