New lithium metal battery doubles Li-ion capacity

Battery technology is mature and mostly limited by chemistry. While new solutions have been around, much of them such as batteries using graphene and zinc are not close to becoming ready for mass market. SolidEnergy Systems took a different approach by continuing to use lithium to make higher-energy density batteries with the same manufacturing process as current Li-ion types. The difference is that these new lithium metal variants have twice more energy density. This means smartphones could stay the same size and offer battery life that is two times longer than current standards.

Lithium metal batteries have been made before, but SolidEnergy believes it has found the key to a commercially viable option by creating batteries that are thinner, lighter and rechargeable. SolidEnergy was started by Massachusetts Institute of Technology student Qichao Hu and professor Donald Sadoway while researching a way to replace a battery anode with metal foil. By the fall of 2015, the team unveiled a working prototype. Now, SolidEnergy said its first commercial battery will go on sale in November. This is a much faster track than many others working on new battery technology could hope for.

The advantage for SolidEnergy is by sticking with lithium and ensuring its batteries could be manufactured using existing hardware. This means their lithium metal batteries can easily scale, but the product is perhaps not as revolutionary as many hope for when thinking about the future of electronics. Doubling battery capacity is a big step forward, but it is not revolutionary. The technology could prove most beneficial for smaller devices such as wearables, which people don't like charging up every day. Smart watches could get smaller and offer longer battery life.

SolidEnergy is also targeting drones and electric cars.