Tesla's solid-state battery there's been
much speculation about what Tesla will
reveal at battery investor day and for
good reason Tesla is the biggest
lithium-ion battery buyer on the planet
this means people developing and
researching battery technology come to
Tesla with their research breakthroughs
first Tesla previously disclosed that
they often receive battery samples and
they track hundreds of battery research
programs to which they assign points
based on potential these researchers
reach out to Tesla because they have the
best chance and strongest desire to
bring new battery breakthroughs to the
market it needs to be noted early on
that taking any battery breakthrough
from a research paper in the lab to a
viable commercial application at scale
has historically taken ten to twenty
years and moving forward it may still
take five to ten years the researchers
work on concepts and develop strategies
and architectures to understand how the
cells work but the development scaling
and testing is done by the industry
someone like Tesla or Panasonic would
have to license the tech from the lab
and then invest heavily to develop
production methods at scale that don't
yet exist on technology that's not
completely understood the intent of this
video is to lay out all the factual
information we have to let you consider
everything and educate all of us so we
can better understand what's being
revealed come April at battery investor
day we'll cover the Maxwell and the DRI
battery electrode solid-state batteries
including the glass battery from John
Goodenough and Maria Braga and how all
the main automakers are approaching
solid state research high bar
Jeff Don and more I'll also explain why
the good enough and Braga glass battery
becoming commercially viable could
actually be a negative for Tesla to
ensure everyone can understand the
research in this video let's first cover
the core operation of today's
lithium-ion battery if you want to skip
this part time stamps are in the
description and the pin comment they're
made up of four main parts there are two
electrodes one is an anode which
typically but not always is negative and
it made of graphite or silicon the other
electrode is a cathode which is
typically positive and this is made up
of numerous different cell chemistry's
NM c and c al Co etc will refer to the
anode as the negative electrode and the
cathode as the positive electrode from
here on out
there's a separator in between these
electrodes the separator is a thin
material that prevents physical contact
between the electrodes allowing the
electrolyte to be thin as well making
batteries smaller lighter and better
separators are usually made from thin
plastic with a ton of tiny holes if a
battery overheats the holes melt closed
shutting down reactions in the battery
that can prevent fires and explosions
all of these elements are in a liquid
electrolyte lithium salt makes up part
of the electrolyte and the other part is
a solvent that lithium salt gets
dissolved in these liquids can be
flammable more on this later you can
think of electrodes like sponges they
absorb lithium ions and electrons when
these two combine they form actual
lithium inside the electrode a
discharged battery has most of the
lithium trapped in the positive
electrode sponge so charging a lithium
ion battery is all about moving the
lithium ions and electrons from the
positive electrode to the negative
electrode the separator blocks the flow
of electrons through the battery forcing
them to move around it to power the load
in this case your evie motor the lithium
ions on the other hand move through the
electrolyte and the separator the key
characteristic of the electrolyte
substance is that it must allow lithium
ions to pass through very easily back
and forth between the electrodes while
also not allowing electrons to pass
through additionally the electrolyte
substance must be chemically friendly to
the electrodes allowing them to stay in
a stable form when a load is applied to
the battery think driving your car the
trap lithium becomes unstable because
the electrons now have a place to go so
the lithium ions and electrons split
with the electrons traveling to the load
as this discharge happens the lithium
ions travel through the electrolyte in
the separator back to the positive
electrode where they join back up with
the electrons that just went through the
load forming lithium and the reverse is
true when a battery is charging it pulls
electrons and Latium ions from the
positive electrode to the negative
electrode all these components are made
very thin we're talking fractions of a
millimeter this extreme thinness allows
the materials to be laid flat to then be
rolled up into a much smaller space in
Tesla's case into a cylindrical cell
similar to the size of a double-a
battery
where
they're then wired together into modules
and battery packs it's generally agreed
upon in the battery community that
lithium-ion cells are near their max
capacity but how close to that
theoretical capacity is debated
additionally the liquid electrolytes
used in today's batteries are flammable
which make them inherently more
dangerous and susceptible to fires when
charging at higher rates Bend rates can
form which are lithium metal crystals
that cause a myriad of negative
reactions in the cell at worse leading
to a short-circuit fire or explosion
pair the safety issues with other
limitations and energy density and
cycling in efficiencies and you can
quickly understand the need for a new
battery technology enter solid state in
the simplest sense this new technology
would use a solid such as glass ceramics
or sulfides rather than a liquid for the
electrolyte hence the name solid state
the cathodes of solid-state batteries
are typically lithium based but with
other variants tested one promising
material for the cathode is lithium
sulfur sulfur can't be used as a cathode
in liquid electrolyte applications due
to its solubility resulting in reduced
battery lifespan the anodes of
solid-state batteries very much more
than the cathode based partly on the
type of solid electrolyte being used
many researchers have touted a lithium
metal anode as a key for major solid
state breakthrough due to the huge
energy density capabilities solid-state
batteries have been studied since the
1950s but with the massive lithium ion
revolution they've attracted much more
attention and investment dollars in
recent years and for good reason
safety is one reason but there are
certainly others solid-state batteries
will have a smaller form factor removing
the liquid solvent can drastically
reduce the size of the battery which
will reduce the overall weight they'll
also have higher energy densities
without getting too deep some of the
leading solid-state research uses a
lithium metal anode which could
single-handedly double the energy
density of today's lithium ion batteries
in theory that would mean going from a
300-mile range Tesla to 600 miles in
commercial settings today ilithyia my
own batteries peak at around 250 watt
hours per kilogram for example in
Tesla's Model 3 watt hour per kilogram
is just a unit of specific energy used
to measure the dense
to the of energy in batteries and
capacitors there have been many claims
from the solid state research labs
worldwide with numbers between 400 and
up to a thousand watt hours per kilogram
anything in this range would allow
massively extended ranges or smaller
cheaper and lighter battery packs
additionally solid state batteries can
result in much lower cost because they
minimize the safety features required
and remove the need for a thermal
management system of which Tesla
currently has the best in the industry
this all sounds great and progress is
being made but it's simple to understand
from a high level why this is such a
technological puzzle moving lithium ions
through a liquid is much easier than
moving them through a solid they've also
had limitations with performing at
various temperature ranges there are a
myriad of other complex issues that are
beyond the scope of this video as viable
research solutions emerge we'll be sure
to cover them in depth for now let's
look at what you should know about the
quote Moraga glass the first research
paper was accepted in December 2016 and
titled alternative strategy for a safe
rechargeable battery linked in the
description below they reported a safe
low cost all solid-state rechargeable
lithium or sodium battery cell using a
solid glass electrolyte which promises
to offer acceptable operation at lower
temperatures previously a major issue
with solid state tech the paper claimed
removal of dendrite formation and
overall a new cell that would be simpler
to manufacture at lower costs and offer
much higher energy densities of at least
three times out of today's lithium-ion
batteries a longer life cycle and
acceptable charge and discharge rates
sodium is cheaper than lithium and
widely available from the oceans which
would make it preferable to lithium but
with potentially less capacity the good
enough in Braga teams second paper on
the Braga glass was published in June
2018 titled non-traditional safe high
voltage rechargeable cells of long cycle
life also linked in the description
below it's important to note that with
the mass influx of peer-reviewed
research papers the filtering process of
published work has suffered just because
a research paper is published does not
inherently mean that something
revolutionary has been discovered many
papers are published to further the
field of study and to assist continued
advancements both of these papers were
met with significant skepticism by
well researched and respected leaders in
the battery field to simplify
there are many unknowns about this new
cell chemistry the second paper claimed
a lifetime of 23 thousand cycles which
seemingly increased over time without a
clear limit and an ability to self
charge pair this with a huge energy
density cleaned in the first paper and
that would indeed be revolutionary if
they could be produced at scale four V's
the size of this if cannot be overstated
many researchers have since moved on
from this work but because of John
Goodenough sledge Andheri reputation
which he's fully deserving of many
people in the general public and
investors are implicitly trusting him
more so than what's actually explained
in the research it should be noted in
the 2018 paper they do add quote half a
drop of liquid electrolyte to make the
electrode and the electrolyte stick
almost a year after the first paper was
released Elon and JB had strong
reactions on an investor conference call
when asked about solid-state batteries
here's my opinion the you know battery
breakthrough of the week of you know
battery breakthrough - or where somebody
has like some great claim that they've
got this awesome battery you know what
send us a sample or if you don't trust
us send it to an independent lab where
the parameters can be verified otherwise
STF
everything works on PowerPoint you know
you could like give your PowerPoint
presentation about teleportation to the
Andromeda galaxy that doesn't mean it
works oh I totally agree with the sort
of you know thought cautious skepticism
on all these announcements and just more
specifically on the solid-state
batteries throughout I mean we do we've
talked to a number of different groups
that are researching this we actually
have tested a number of those different
prototype you know very early prototype
you know single cells but it's you know
we don't yet see anything that changes
our strategy and we don't see anything
there that's why we love it it did
please please PLEASE Cal goes back to
actually break through with of it would
be the first ones to want to uh
implement yeah totally
this leads me to my reasoning for why
are they good enough
and glass battery commercialization may
not be a win for Tesla in an interview
in 2017 and good enough said quote we
plan to license the technology to many
manufacturers we want to avoid an
exclusive license we're building a
patent portfolio that I hope will prove
successful and we will not offer an
exclusive license Manufacturing a
marketable battery cell will take about
two years of development by a competent
battery company but we have over 50
companies showing interest to be able to
perform tests of our results unquote any
one has and will have access to this
technology and while Tesla and Panasonic
would hypothetically have the best
chance to commercialize it everyone else
would in theory quickly follow behind
this could actually reduce a competitive
edge that Tesla has as of today almost
every other legacy OEM is heavily
invested in solid-state startups
seemingly waiting for the breakthrough
to happen ford BMW and Hyundai have
invested in a solid-state battery
startup called solid power Honda working
with Caltech and NASA's Jet Propulsion
lab have claimed to develop an entirely
new fluoride ion battery that would
offer ten times greater energy density
but it should be noted this still uses a
liquid electrolyte the US Department of
Energy awarded GM two million dollars in
2019 specifically for the development of
solid-state batteries 1 million to
fundamentally understand solid-state
battery interactions and the other 1
million to research hot pressing of
reinforced solid-state batteries with
sulfide glass as the electrolyte GM and
LG Chem are working on a joint venture
investing 2.3 billion dollars to
mass-produce battery cells but these are
expected to be of the current
lithium-ion variety not solid-state LG
Chem makes the batteries for the Chevy
Volt Volkswagen invested a hundred
million dollars into quantum skate one
of the leading us-based solid state
battery companies they've been vocal
that their goal is to establish a
production line for solid-state cells by
2025 and they don't see a path to having
them mass-produced until closer to 2030
Toyota is gearing up to debut a
solid-state battery evey at the 2020
Tokyo Olympics but their CTO shigeki
taraji followed this up by saying a
production vehicle won't be ready until
mid-2020s there are also many side
partnerships in place Toyota Nissan and
Honda have teamed up with Panasonic with
goals to produce a solid-state battery
with 340 miles of range by 2025 and 500
miles by 2030 interestingly panasonic
has said it doesn't expect solid-state
lithium batteries to be commercially
viable for another 10 years there's not
a proper mass production process for
these kinds of batteries and if any
company understands this aspect its
Panasonic as you can see from the
industry at large
most legacy automakers are aiming for
solid-state battery tech to become
commercially viable between 2025 and
2030 this brings us back to Tesla
Maxwell is bringing a dry battery
electrode or DBE coating technology to
the table Elon recently publicly stated
that this was a big deal bigger than it
may seem this DBE tech is compatible
with current and future battery
chemistry's which is key they were also
working on ultra capacitors also called
super capacitors but Elon has said
recently that these are unnecessary
we won't get into super caps until
something changes unlike the current wet
coated electrode dve tech produces a
thick electrode that allows for high
energy density cells in better discharge
rate capabilities maxwell has already
demonstrated scalability of this
manufacturing process classical wet
coating technology has drawbacks like
solvent toxicity reactivity between
electrodes and long mixing and oven
drying times Maxwell's proprietary
solvent free coding tech resolves these
issues and offers manufacturing cost and
performance improvements that will still
allow for new battery chemistry's
reducing the need for solvents means
much higher production rates that
require a much smaller and cheaper
manufacturing footprint in addition to
manufacturing flexibility the cohesion
and adhesion properties of electrodes
derive from the dry coating process are
superior in the presence of the
electrolytes at high temperatures by
eliminating the use of any solvents and
associated coating and drying
complexities inherent with wet coating
tech the dry coating electrode process
is environmentally friendly and can be
readily installed with a much lower
start-up capital investment thus
dry coding electrode manufacturing is
economically attractive and socially
responsible maxwell's proprietary dry
coding tech is comprised three steps dry
powder mixing powder to film formation
in film to current collector lamination
all executed in a solvent les fashioned
Maxwell has been working on this DBE
text since 2011 which means there's a
good chance it's indeed ready for
commercialization this maxwell DVD text
should integrate well with high bar if
you miss my most recent video on high
bar it's linked in the description
they don't make batteries or deal with
cell chemistry they make automated pump
systems that have been used to inject
liquid electrolytes into batteries a
process that in theory could pair well
with a maxwell DVD process the new DVD
tech from Maxwell is not the same thing
as a solid-state battery as the DVD
manufacturing process will still result
in a battery with a liquid electrolyte
Tesla could now use high bars
world-renowned pump filling systems to
inject a new electrolyte composition
into their next-gen batteries this leads
us to Jeff Don and Co I made a video on
his research partnership with Tesla also
linked in the description he and his
team have done extensive testing with
various advanced lithium ion electrolyte
chemistry's Perry with various electrode
compositions they made this information
available to the public but in December
of nineteen Tesla had a patent published
a seemingly stem from this research
here's the abstract improved battery
systems with two additive mixtures
including an electrolyte solvent that is
a carbonate solvent an organic solvent a
non aqueous solvent methyl acetate or a
combination of them the positive
electrode of the battery systems may be
formed from lithium nickel manganese
cobalt compounds and the negative
electrode of the improved system may be
formed from natural or artificial
graphite to simplify Tesla could pair
the DBE from Maxwell the pump filling
from high bar and a new battery
chemistry from Don & Co at battery
investor day if the Maxwell tech can
take Tesla from 250 watt hours per
kilogram to 300 watt hours per kilogram
now which has already been demonstrated
that's a 25% increase Maxwell has also
said they've identified a way to achieve
500 watt hours per kilogram which if you
recall would be greater than some
projections of future
solid-state batteries if it can also
extend the battery life by two times and
reduce the cost of production by 10 to
20 percent and you add to these figures
synergies from high bar efficiencies and
a new chemistry from Don & Co an
argument could be made that Tesla
wouldn't need a solid-state battery in
the near term however Maxwell has said
there dve process does allow for the
future development of solid-state
batteries a battery investor day it
won't just be a comprehensive review of
cell chemistry but also of module and
pack architecture and a manufacturing
plane with a clear roadmap to a terawatt
hour of production per year they'll most
likely discuss their latest battery pack
patent where they've created a more
efficient system by simplifying the
multiple battery module system into one
single module April is going to be fun
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