KATHMANDU: US-based battery startup Pure Lithium is developing a new lithium-metal battery that could reduce the EV industry’s dependence on Chinese supply chains, according to Insideevs.
The Chicago-based company is developing a graphite-free lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. It claims the technology can offer higher energy density while reducing weight and cost.
Pure Lithium recently said its lithium-metal battery completed 9,315 charge-discharge cycles in laboratory testing. The company says this is more than three times the cycle life of conventional lithium-ion batteries under similar testing conditions.
The company claims its battery can offer twice the energy density and half the weight of current batteries. Its first-generation battery has an energy density of 300 Wh/kg, while the second-generation version is expected to reach 425 Wh/kg.
The battery uses LFP chemistry and does not require graphite, nickel, manganese or cobalt. More than 90% of the world’s graphite is processed in China, making graphite a major part of the global battery supply chain.
Instead of using a traditional graphite anode, Pure Lithium uses lithium metal. The company creates the anode directly on a copper current collector through a process called electrodeposition.
Pure Lithium is currently building a pilot production line in Chicago and is in discussions with more than 40 companies to commercialize the technology.
The company has yet to bring the battery to the market. Its laboratory results will also need to be proven at a larger scale before the technology can be used in mass-produced electric vehicles.
