Overview: Claims: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LqVcffdT1A Claims summary: 1,000Wh/kg 50,000 cycles <$50/kWh Non-flammable Compare with current batteries: 180-250Wh/kg 300-6,000 cycles depending on depth-of-discharge and other factors (i.e. temperature) $200/kWh Flammable They're already making batteries for on-grid utility use, though reading between the lines, those are not the high-density (1,000Wh/kg) ones. The high-density ones are in laboratory testing so far. I'm encouraged because these seem to be real, not some fantasy by one of the many fly-by-night scam artists we've seen before making similar claims. This is the sort of thing that could make EV's genuinely practical and cost effective for most people, rather than the high-cost, low-range niche products we have today. We'll see over the next few years if this pans out or not. There have been many similar claims in the past that didn't or haven't yet. Home - Innolith Science and Technology GmbH
The the original company was Alevo. It sounds like they over extended when trying to go into manufacturing. Innolith is looking to just licensing the technology to other manufacturers. Found some info on their technology. Innolith claims energy dense battery tech breakthrough | The Engineer The Engineer Quoting it would entail most of the article. "However, said Frith, Innolith’s chemistry has one potential catch. “The system is more corrosive than traditional electrolytes and needs to remain completely isolated from moisture,” he said. “This makes the electrolyte filling a critical step and requires specially designed equipment.”" Does Innolith's Battery Technology Stand a Chance the Second Time Around? | Greentech Media One component of the electrolyte is sulfur dioxide, which makes sulfuric acid when mixed with water. What I couldn't find info on was the energy density; the Wh/liter. Traditional Li-ion batteries are 250–693 Wh/L. Wh/kg is the specific energy. On the cost of the grid storage batteries, "When asked what the per kW/h costs of the battery are, Greenshields {first guy in OP video} responded that “cost per kW/h as a metric made sense for smaller batteries in the past. However, with grid storage for frequency response, the cost of a battery should be determined in cost per cycle.” According to him, grid storage batteries would run through around two cycles per day, which gives batteries with a higher maximum cycle count an advantage – financially and from a sustainability perspective. Following up on that point, Greenshields was asked whether higher upfront investment costs might not prevent investors from buying into the technology, as return on investment (ROI) periods could exceed current standard investment practices. He responded that “our batteries have a shorter payback period and also win on that metric.” Innolith launches non-flammable battery with 50,000 charging cycles – pv magazine International Sounds like they cost more than typical Li-ion for grid storage, but the longer working life(15 years) makes up for it.
We'll see. One of the issues with Lithium sulfur is high resistance in the cells. High resistance limits the current rating during charging and discharging. Probably why they are being used for grid power first.
They don't say how fast they can charge or discharge. But this could be the thing that kills the fuel car. If you can actually get 2x-3x the current battery density at 1/4 the cost with 10x the longevity why would you really care about things like refueling rate? If you mostly drive around town, just get a 200 mile battery in a very cheap car that will last 1M miles. If you take lots of long trips buy a car with 400-600 mile battery. You can mostly charge at night and maybe get 100 or 200 miles extra during one stop during the day for 20 or 30 minutes. If you really need to drive more than 700 or so miles, then those 0.1% can stick with gas cars for another decade. Mike
Somehow a claim that this one solution solves all the problems and has none of the downsides strikes this observer as suspect. I'll believe it when I see the 100,000 mile in an owner's hands postings.
The electrolyte may not be flammable, but it does contain sulfur dioxide. That leaking out won't be a good thing, and cells may actually be pressurized. Their grid storage battery has lower specific energy because of the heavy casing.
The one battery pack they have made with this technology is in Maryland, built in 2014 is 2MW/1MWh and seems to be performing quite well. That battery pack was 70 wh/kg versus the 168 wh/kg in the Tesla model 3 long range pack. Its a stationary pack so size and weight doesn't mater very much. Unfortunately that company Alevo went bankrupt, with executives buying the technology and some of the equipment to form this company. If they can drive down costs to $50/kwh for a 2C cell it should do well in grid storage. At the utility level including all the additional hardware to make it work in the grid the tesla pack in Australia cost 520 euros/kwh for a huge 100 MW/ 129 MWh that needs to provide 70 MW for grid stabilization but can use 30 MW for load shifting. The cost is much higher than power wall prices but it needed to be produced and installed in 100 days and no one had ever built a battery pack that big. In the first year the buyer made 1/3 the cost, so payback is likely less than 4 years. That is the tech innolith have ready to go, they just need someone to figure out how to manufacture it in a cost effective way. On the other hand for the vehicle market cost at the pack level is likely lower for tesla to continue what it is doing adding maxwell technology. The innolth battery packs for auto applications are not likely for 3-5 years. It may be tough sell then as by the time they start building them solid state is likely being proved. Panasonic seemed to think they would be ready for auto applications in 2028, toyota sooner. There are a number of promising designs that likely will be commercialized around 2023 although I think Panasonic is right they won't be proven for auto applications until 2028.
Heck, I need them in: Cell phone Laptop AAA and AA cells for Christmas toys, smoke detectors and wall clocks Bob Wilson
