Milo McBride, fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, called the commercialisation of lithium sulphur batteries a “golden goose” for US battery competitiveness. “The west is not scaling its alternative critical mineral supply chains to the extent that is needed,” McBride said.
Limiting the size of EV batteries alone can cut lithium demand by up to 42% by 2050. The largest reduction will come from changing the way we get around towns and cities – fewer cars, more walking, cycling and public transit made possible by denser cities – followed by downsizing vehicles and recycling batteries.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. US battery start-up Lyten is committing more than $1bn to build the world’s first large-scale factory to produce lithium sulphur batteries, an emerging technology that could help break US dependence on China for metals crucial for the energy transition.
The main bottleneck facing lithium sulphur batteries is in its chemistry. While lithium sulphur can offer energy densities that are multitudes higher than their traditional lithium-ion counterparts, they rapidly degrade due to a chemical reaction known as the polysulfide shuttle.
This is good news but there’s a catch: lithium. Electric vehicles are already the largest source of demand for lithium – the soft, white metal common to all current rechargeable batteries.
The factory, located in Reno, Nevada, is expected to start production by 2027, the first target set for the commercialisation of a type of battery that could challenge the incumbent lithium ion. The battery does not rely on graphite, nickel, manganese, or cobalt — metals in which the vast majority of the world’s supply is controlled by Beijing.