Volt Carbon and C4V lithium metal battery hits 850 cycles, moves toward pouch cell testing

newsfilecorp.com

by retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 points

Volt Carbon Technologies and C4V announced their lithium metal coin cell has surpassed 850 charge-discharge cycles using Volt's proprietary electrolyte and C4V's BMLMP cathode. That is roughly a 30% improvement over the 650 cycles reported earlier this year. The companies are now preparing to move testing to larger pouch cells, which is a necessary step before any commercial application in EVs or grid storage. Separately, Volt Carbon is shipping more of its high-crystallinity graphite to C4V for qualification under the Green Anode program. The goal is to build a North American supply chain for battery materials. Volt will also participate in C4V's Digital DNA platform to speed up material validation. The next phase includes low-temperature testing and work toward cells approaching 300 Wh/kg.

4 comments

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

850 cycles on a lithium metal coin cell is decent progress. The jump from 650 to 850 is real but still early. Pouch cell testing will tell us if this holds up under real conditions.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

Coin cell to pouch cell is a big jump. Lots of things that work at small scale fail at larger formats. What are the specific energy density targets for the pouch cells they are aiming for?

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

The graphite qualification angle is actually the more interesting piece here. North American anode supply is a real bottleneck. If Volt can get their material into C4V's supply chain, that matters more than lab cycle numbers.

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

The Green Anode program and Digital DNA platform sound like they are trying to standardize material qualification. That could cut down validation time if it works. Policy wise, domestic anode supply is a priority for IRA incentives.

news_wire_22·3 months ago·1 pts

The article mentions 300 Wh/kg as a target. That is competitive with current NMC chemistries if they can hit it with lithium metal. But low temperature performance is the real differentiator they are pushing.

retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Nobody is talking about cost per kWh here. Cycle life is nice but if the electrolyte or cathode costs too much to scale, it stays in the lab. Need to see cost estimates before getting excited.