Energy

Amprius ships first batch of "world's highest density" batteries

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Amprius has delivered some 450-Wh/kg cells to its first customer, the highest-density cells currently available
Amprius
Amprius has delivered some 450-Wh/kg cells to its first customer, the highest-density cells currently available
Amprius
Silicon nanowire electrodes can store more lithium than a typical graphite lattice, and Amprius says they last long enough to be competitive with current technology
Amprius
The Amprius cells significantly outperform current lithium batteries on energy density by weight and volume
Amprius
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Californian company Amprius has shipped the first batch of what it claims are the most energy-dense lithium batteries available today. These silicon anode cells hold 73 percent more energy than Tesla's Model 3 cells by weight, and they take up 37 percent less volume.

Tesla's current Model 3 cells serve as a state-of-the-art comparison, and hold around 260 Wh/kg and 730 Wh/l, according to Enpower. The new Amprius cells are a significant step up, both in specific energy and energy density, holding 450 Wh/kg and 1,150 Wh/l – and the company says that the undisclosed number of cells just delivered to "an industry leader of a new generation of High-Altitude Pseudo Satellites" give it bragging rights for "the highest energy density cells available in the battery industry today."

Amprius says the batteries' impressive performance is due to its silicon nanowire anode technology. When you charge up a lithium-ion battery, you're effectively pulling an electron off each lithium atom sitting happily at the cathode, and moving them across to the anode via external wiring, since electrons can't pass through the electrolyte or separator between the anode and cathode. Their negative charge pulls the positively-charged lithium ions across through the electrolyte and separator, where they each find an electron and become embedded in what's typically a graphite lattice at the anode.

Silicon nanowire electrodes can store more lithium than a typical graphite lattice, and Amprius says they last long enough to be competitive with current technology
Amprius

Amprius has replaced that graphite lattice with silicon nanowires. Silicon can store some 10x more lithium than graphite, but it tends to swell and crack, drastically reducing cell life. Amprius says that when you form the silicon into porous nanowires, arranged as a kind of forest of longer wires with shorter ones in between, the silicon is able to tolerate swell and resist cracking, extending the life of the cell to the point where silicon anodes can become a competitive technology.

The company says the silicon nanowires are rooted right into the substrate of the anode, so conductivity (and thus power) is high. It says the cell cycle life is "excellent" and "continually improving," although it doesn't put any numbers on it, and it also says the anode is the only part of the battery that changes; the rest can be produced using existing manufacturing methods and components.

Obviously, the world is ready and waiting for next-gen battery cells that can store more energy in less size and weight – everything from smartphones to electric vehicles would benefit either from a weight or space reduction, and emerging technologies like electric VTOL aircraft are crying out for batteries that can improve their range and capabilities.

The Amprius cells significantly outperform current lithium batteries on energy density by weight and volume
Amprius

And of course, energy density and specific energy are just two metrics on which a battery needs to compete. Thermal performance, safety, charge/discharge rates and cycle life will all play a big part, as indeed will price. The fact that Amprius's first customer is in advanced aerospace and making satellites would suggest that at this point, these cells aren't going to compete on price.

The company will soon choose a site, on which it'll start building a mass production facility, which will bring economies of scale that might make this technology relevant in the EV market and elsewhere. By the time that factory's up and running, we should also be able to put some exact performance metrics on another advanced electrode manufacturer we've been reporting on: Nawa Technologies says it's developed a way to cheaply manufacture vertically aligned carbon nanotube electrodes, claiming these could lead to 300 percent improvements on today's lithium batteries. We shall see.

Source: Amprius

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15 comments
vince
UTS will get bragging rights soon with 11,700 Wh/Kg. Check out University of Technology at Sydney discovery.
Robt
UTS website discusses a new molecule that could very significantly improve battery anode performance etc. etc.
However they haven’t so much as built a lab prototype
A bit early for bragging rights
Chase
It would be lovely to finally get the weight down on these battery packs in vehicles. Between the weight savings and the reduced need for capacity due to the reduced weight, this could cut the battery weight in half (about 500lbs off in a Model 3 LR) and shave 14% off the total weight of the car. I still wouldn't buy a Tesla (because I hate the ADAS-is-LIFE design), but huge reductions in weight are a great way to get me interested in an EV.
notarichman
i notice that amprius doesn't mention how many cycles/years the battery will last.
BlueOak
“ It says the cell cycle life is "excellent" and "continually improving,"

Talk is cheap, but actual, proven, performance specs are what lives in the real world.
guzmanchinky
I am so excited for electric motorcycles with huge range, or one of those flying Jetson thingees with an hour flight time!
noteugene
Hope next yrs cell phones will utilize this tech but that's doubtful. Not enough of a time frame to scale up for production one would think.
WB
been reading these for over a decade now... and non zero zip nada ever made it anywhere, still stuck on the good old standard lithium ion...
joe46
so how much do these things cost ? and how many charge cycles do you get out of them ?
MarkGovers
We are one step closer to all electric everything!