Lithium Solid Oxygen battery Ju Li at MIT

[Ludus]

New Lithium–Oxygen Battery Is Scalable, Cheap and Quite Promising

A paper in Nature Energy and some buzz on the web from a couple weeks ago.

New battery tech announcements aren't usually worth much attention but this one seems to come from pretty credible sources and cover most of the bases as an apparently practical alternative. It's lithium-oxygen chemistry but in a sealed battery with the oxygen staying solid state trapped in matrix with no air exchange issues. The claim is for commercial version within a year.

To my very limited understanding it seems like a variation that would fit with Gigafactory plans.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

New Lithium–Oxygen Battery Is Scalable, Cheap and Quite Promising

A paper in Nature Energy and some buzz on the web from a couple weeks ago.

New battery tech announcements aren't usually worth much attention but this one seems to come from pretty credible sources and cover most of the bases as an apparently practical alternative. It's lithium-oxygen chemistry but in a sealed battery with the oxygen staying solid state trapped in matrix with no air exchange issues. The claim is for commercial version within a year.

To my very limited understanding it seems like a variation that would fit with Gigafactory plans.

Interesting, but the claim is a "practical prototype" within a year, there is no discussion on manufacturing cost, and 8% loss to heat still seems like a lot to me (though I am unsure of this exact metric in Tesla's current chemistry).

 

[Ludus]

I don't know what the heat loss on charging is but lithium ion charging is usually described as 80-90% efficient so that seems in line. I doubt they have any detailed understanding of manufacturing but unlike most prior lithium air or lithium oxygen batteries, these seem suitable for sealed cylinder batteries without any other complications.

If there's anything to it I'm sure Tesla will be all over it. Nobody would benefit more or be better able to do what was necessary to pivot to it.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

I don't know what the heat loss on charging is but lithium ion charging is usually described as 80-90% efficient so that seems in line.

Yeah, but that's not cell charging efficiency, right?

EDIT:

Yeah, quick google search:

The advised charge rate of an Energy Cell is between 0.5C and 1C; the complete charge time is about 2–3 hours. Manufacturers of these cells recommend charging at 0.8C or less to prolong battery life. Most Power Cells can take a higher charger. Charge efficiency is about 99 percent and the cell remains cool during charge.

Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries

 

[Ludus]

I'm still unclear what the equivalent loss is for charging existing lithium ion batteries or how it compares to the 8% loss to heat cited. I came across references to 99% efficiency but also estimates that losses are about 10% but they might be talking about different measures.