Are lithium-ceramic batteries the future of EVs? One firm bets on it

As the electric vehicle (EV) industry keeps thinking of new ways to increase the driving range of its products on a single charge and reduce charging times, one company is thinking in the direction of lithium-ceramic batteries as the future.

Indeed, Taiwanese start-up ProLogium Technology has introduced a lithium-ceramic battery (LCB), which it believes could improve the performance and safety of EVs, and plans to begin rolling it out by the end of 2025, according to a report by Automotive World on April 24.

Inorganic electrolytes in lithium-ceramic batteries

According to ProLogium, theirs is the world’s first fully inorganic electrolyte solid-state battery (SSB), thus solving the problem of organic electrolytes having poor thermal stability and susceptibility to water damage. By comparison, inorganic electrolytes are insensitive to high temperatures, elevated pressure, and moisture.

As it happens, the company this way aims to provide a similar consumer experience to internal combustion engines (ICE) in regards to range, safety, and charging, its founder and CEO Vincent Yang arguing that “ICE cars don’t give people range anxiety.” Specifically:

“You can easily predict how far you can get on the fuel in your tank. We want to do the same with EVs. With this technology, fast-charging offers almost the same refueling time, meaning the consumer can have the same kind of experience.”

In Yang’s words, his company’s LCB can decrease charging time to a mere four minutes for 60% capacity and six minutes for 80% capacity, or over 500 kilometers of driving range in just five minutes of charging, thanks to advancements in energy density that is higher by up to 150%  than lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries.

For the moment, ProLogium’s latest generation LCB can reach 380 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) of gravimetric energy density and 860-900 watt-hours per liter (Wh/L) of volumetric energy density, and the company seeks to exceed 450 Wh/kg and 1,000 Wh/L by 2026.

EV battery tech breakthroughs

Elsewhere, lithium batteries might not even be a thing in the future, as scientists at Princeton University in New Jersey have discovered a high-energy sodium-ion cathode that could outperform the traditional lithium-ion ones and could become a safer, more sustainable, and cost-effective alternative.

On the other hand, a multidisciplinary team at the University of California, Berkeley, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has created a stretchable, self-healing lithium battery that stays stable after 500 charge and discharge cycles.