New EV Battery Can Store 4x More Energy Than Lithium Batteries

A new, safer electric vehicle battery, tested for a thousand cycles in a test cell, can store up to four times more energy than current lithium-ion batteries.

For years, EV owners desired a battery to power their cars for over 1,000 miles on one charge. Researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Argonne National Lab have developed a lithium-air battery to make that dream a reality.

The new battery is made of solid electrolyte instead of the usual liquid variety. Solid electrolyte batteries are safer because they don’t overheat and catch fire.

Argonne chemists say the lithium-air battery has the highest projected energy density of any battery technology and can boost energy density four times faster than lithium-ion batteries. Hence, a longer driving range for electric car owners.

The chemical reaction for previous lithium-air designs involved one or two electrons stored per oxygen molecule. In contrast, the new lithium-air design involves four electrons; more electrons stored means higher energy density.

Previously, lithium-air battery test cells had about 300 life cycles. The new design operates a test cell for 1,000 cycles, demonstrating its stability over repeated charge and discharge. “With further development, our new lithium-air battery design could reach a record energy density of 1,200 watt-hours per kg,” says Curtis, an Argonne chemist. ​That’s about four times more than Tesla batteries.

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