Sino-Australian company Brighsun New Energy says it has a breakthrough with its lithium sulfur batteries. According to the company, they now have the potential to store five to eight times as much energy than conventional lithium-ion batteries, and this brings a range of 2,000 km for EVs into view.
Lithium sulfur batteries have been around for about sixty years and are known for their high storage capacity per kilo. These batteries are therefore seen by many as the potential successor to the widely used lithium-ion batteries, but there is one major stumbling block: the service life. Due to the formation of polysulfides, the active substance (sulfur) leaks from the cathode. The Sino-Australian company Brighsun says it has now found a solution. That would be a real breakthrough and the company immediately patented its solution. The batteries will enter a test phase later this year.
Brighsun says their breakthrough in the life of these batteries finally makes it possible to deploy them in phones, electric cars, electric trucks and even ships and planes. The batteries are relatively light and, according to Brighsun, have the potential to store up to eight times as much energy (at a comparable size as lithium-ion batteries). According to the company, EVs should be able to travel up to 2,000 kilometers on a single charge after half an hour of charging. The battery should last 2 million kilometers and still have 91 percent of the capacity after 1,700 charge cycles (at 2C). 2C means that the charging speed in kW is a maximum of twice the capacity in kWh, for example with 150 kW charging on a 75 kWh battery pack.
People are now in talks with potential investors to look at large-scale production. It is said to be inexpensive, because according to Brighsun, the ingredients are readily available and inexpensive in Australia. So interesting developments.