Better batteries: Overcoming the manufacturing roadblock

Solid-state batteries are safer, less toxic, and they can perform better. The electric vehicle revolution urgently needs them. Many startups around the world have assembled concepts of new batteries that—in their labs—outperform the current lithium-ion batteries with a liquid electrolyte. These companies have excited investors and they have raised billions of dollars.

However, despite massive investments led by the biggest car manufacturers, we aren’t using solid-state batteries today. There’s a big difference between producing one breakthrough battery cell in a lab and producing millions of these cells reliably, repeatedly, and with consistent quality in a Gigafactory. We can only accelerate the clean energy transition when we overcome the obstacles towards the mass-scale manufacturing of better batteries.

I’ve worked on batteries for 25 years. I was Executive Director of Battery Operations at Apple when Samsung had to recall 2.5 million smart phones because of overheating and exploding batteries. Overnight, Samsung lost $30 billion in market value. As a battery-expert, I knew such a disaster could happen to any multinational company using lithium-ion batteries.

I joined ION Storage Systems because I wanted to work on a better battery. I know we can only realize and successfully launch a disruptive, breakthrough battery when we focus on mass-production every step along the way. Too many good ideas have failed because execution and production were not integrated at the core of the innovation.

ION has developed a battery based on a solid ceramic electrolyte. Many battery innovators use ceramics. That makes sense. Ceramics offer various advantages. They are strong. They can resist high temperatures and they are good electrical insulators. Moreover, ceramics do not require resources that need to be mined in environmentally and socially challenging circumstances.

Ceramics have a proven track record. Our ancestors have used them for thousands of years. They are among the earliest signs of human civilization. Today, they are not just used for plates and pots. They are used in aerospace to replace heavier metals. They provide heat shields to protect space rockets. Pressure-resistant containers for deep sea exploration are made from ceramics as well. Ceramic capacitors are also at the core of the chips that steer electronic devices from computers to mobile phones.

Ceramics offer a porous structure that allows electrons to pass from the positive to the negative ends of batteries. In batteries with liquid electrolytes, electrons can easily flow between the electrodes. Liquids cause little resistance. In solid-state batteries, the electrons need to flow through the porous ceramic structure. One little crack in the structure can obstruct the even flow—much like a rock in a fast-flowing river creates a rapid—and limit the performance of the battery.

Ceramic plates and coffee cups are produced by the millions. Clay is put in molds and fired in ovens. Our process to produce solid-state batteries is very similar. However, there is one big difference. On close examination, no two plates are exactly alike. Such little imperfections will not impact your dining experience, but they can make a battery dysfunctional.

One can compare the challenge with semiconductor manufacturing. Making computer chips is notoriously difficult and expensive. A slight flaw in the production renders a chip useless. But with massive investments, production has been standardized and brought under control and everyday computer chips are now reliably and cheaply produced by the millions every day.

Like our competitors, we are currently producing some 30 battery pouch cells per day in our prototype factory. Each cell consists of some 30 layers of very thin (about 25 microns) ceramic tape that make up the solid electrolyte. We need 7,000 of these cells for a battery to power one electric car (EV). That means more than 200,000 layers of identical ceramics tape per car. And millions of EV’s are scheduled to come on the market in the years ahead. In other words: The manufacturing challenge is huge.

So, how do we plan for success? Our strategy is based on two fundamental principles. We are not doing anything ourselves that others are already doing successfully. And we make sure that our team is focused as much on ongoing innovation and improvement as on the challenge of mass-scale production.

There are companies with a lot of experience—built on generations of research and development focuses on scaling manufacturing—with the mass-production of ceramic components for electronics. They offer volume, quality, and consistency that no startup can deliver.

We’re collaborating with such large industrial partners that have created successful businesses mass-producing ceramic components for other industries. We make sure that we check every step we take in our prototype factory with these partners so that they will be able to integrate our innovation in their large scale, tested production systems. We ensure that every new technique we use can be scaled.

We also build our batteries using ‘off the shelve’ components as much as possible. We do not need to invent things that exist and that are already manufactured in high volumes and of high quality. We are not reinventing any wheels. For example: We use standard, high energy density, cathodes, and we focus our innovation on the critical missing element in the battery industry: The solid-state electrolyte.

Secondly, we make sure that the manufacturing challenge is part of every team effort and discussion. About half of our engineers are focused on technological innovation; the other half is completely dedicated to manufacturing. Case in point: I have decades of experience in battery production. I am the CEO, the leader of the company. Our founder, the inventor of our technology, is the CTO.

As a result, the performance objectives of our company include ‘manufacturability’ next to the energy output, safety, and cost of our battery cells. Manufacturability is a key metric for us. We cannot afford to innovate while delaying figuring out how to manufacture our groundbreaking and much-needed energy solution.

Our strategy promises the best chance to succeed. All the processes we use already exist. We are launching a novel technology using established and tested industrial processes with talented engineers who always have manufacturing on their minds. That is how we can get most quickly and efficiently to the Gigafactories that the EV industry desperately needs.