Stellantis is investing in a new type of battery to make its electric cars even cheaper

The batteries known and most widely used today are all lithium-based. This means that when we talk about a “lithium battery”, the component that provides the base is only called by its name. Anyway, there are a lot of chemistry cells in this category. Even the expected savior solid-state batteries are based on lithium, so this salt, which is also one of the most abundant substances on Earth, will definitely stay with us for a while.

One such variant is the lithium-sulfur (lithium-sulfur) battery, which has not yet become widespread in everyday life. However, several startups see the future in this, including Lyten, which founded its headquarters in Silicon Valley, with whom Stellantis recently teamed up. According to Lyten, such a battery has the following advantageous properties compared to today’s well-known and common lithium-ion cells:

• Nickel, cobalt, magnesium and graphite free
• It can be produced from lower-cost raw materials
• Twice the energy density (Wh/kg)
• 60 percent less mass
• It is protected against overheating, there is no risk of fire
• Current lithium-ion cell factories can easily be converted to this chemistry

So what such a sulfur-based cell can offer is promising. Líten CEO Dan Cook said: “We think this is what e-mobility needs to achieve net zero carbon emissions”

According to Lyten, the key is the company’s proprietary “3D graphene” supermaterial. Although 2D graphene has been around since 2004 and won the Nobel Prize in 2010. However, Lyten has taken this one step further from the laboratory to commercial applications. Lyten’s proprietary reactor technology converts methane into 3D graphene, which can react with multiple materials, including sulfur, while improving strength, conductivity, and permeability. As an alternative to nickel, manganese and cobalt batteries, Lyten’s technology offers a lower material volume with higher energy density.

Stellantis liked the promising opportunity, so they entered into a partnership with Lyten. The group’s investment business is Stellantis Ventures, who invested an undisclosed amount in Lyten’s budget. Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, also praised the technology:

“After visiting Lyten recently with our CTO Ned Curic and Adam Bazih, head of Stellantis Ventures, we came away impressed with the technology’s potential to enable clean, safe and affordable mobility. In particular, Lyten’s lithium-sulfur battery can be a key component in the global adoption of mass-market electric vehicles, and their material technology can also be good at reducing vehicle weight, which is necessary for our industry to meet net carbon emissions targets.”

The path of the technology will definitely be worth monitoring, because Lyten is already looking for the location of the factory where it can start the production of such cells.