This report provides insight and market intelligence into the lithium metal battery market, including four key technologies (solid-state, liquid electrolyte, lithium-sulfur and lithium-air), player innovation and application market evaluation. The forecast covers a ten-year period from 2025-2035, in which three chemistries are expected to see mass production (solid-state, liquid electrolyte and lithium-sulfur). It is the most comprehensive market analysis to date on the development of batteries using lithium metal anodes.

 

Growth drivers and energy density needs

The lithium metal battery market is on the cusp of commercialization, with development efforts driven by demand from the automotive, aviation and consumer electronics industries. This demand is due to higher energy density requirements in many applications. Energy density is a major bottleneck for range in electric vehicles. The battery volume is standardized in most battery electric vehicles, and current lithium-ion technology using graphite anodes is unable to significantly improve the overall capacity of the battery given this volume restriction. As a result, automotive OEMs are looking to new chemistries and battery designs.

 

An introduction to lithium metal

This report covers lithium metal batteries, i.e. secondary batteries using lithium-ion chemistry with a lithium metal anode instead of the conventional graphite anode. Cathode and electrolyte vary depending on cell design, but the most popular cathodes are the incumbent NMC and LFP, while electrolytes can be solid, semi-solid or liquid. Lithium metal batteries have been proven to offer energy densities over 800 Wh/L and specific energies of more than 400 Wh/kg, compared with graphite-anode lithium-ion which can only achieve 500 Wh/L and 200 Wh/kg. However, development of lithium metal has been historically challenging as a result of lithium dendrite formation, which causes early degradation and limits cycle life. Efforts have been made to counteract this mechanism, including the development of separators and the introduction of alternative pressure, temperature and charging conditions, however, only in the last few years have cell developers begun to approach commercialization.

Forecasting

The lithium metal battery forecast covers a ten-year period between 2025 and 2035. This includes major commercialization milestones for solid-state, liquid electrolyte and lithium-sulfur sectors with each of them predicted to achieve vehicle-ready cells by 2035. The forecast methodology utilized primary interviews with major players covering expected commercialization timelines, as well as examining funding trends, manufacturing capacity and studying several addressable markets to determine the significance of lithium metal technology. The report includes breakdowns for each of the three main technology groups by application area, looking at electric vehicles, consumer electronics, drones and aviation/defense.