Production of Liquid Metal Battery Begins

author: FutureCar Staff    

The news is filled with promises of new clean energy technologies, but many of them never make it to production. Whether it's due to cost issues, production challenges, or scalability problems, we often hear about breakthroughs that never actually happen. Multi-layered solar panels, wave and tidal energy, and hydrogen fuel cells are all real technologies, but they struggle to compete with lower cost and proven alternatives.

However, there is one technology that seems to be defying this trend - the liquid metal battery. Startup Ambri plans to put this battery into service on the electrical grid next year. Compared to lithium ion batteries, Ambri's technology is already disruptive in terms of cost. It is about half the price of lithium batteries, with installation costs running at around $405 per kilowatt-hour. The construction method is also simpler, using molten metal electrodes and a molten salt electrolyte. This not only makes the battery more durable, but also non-flammable and resistant to degradation over time. According to testing results, the battery is expected to retain 95% of its capacity even after 20 years of use.

However, one potential issue in scaling this technology is the sourcing of antimony, one of the metals required for construction. Despite being able to produce the batteries for $180 to $250 per kilowatt-hour, Ambri needs to bring down the costs to around $20 in order to compete with "base load" power plants. The company projects that they will significantly reduce costs and reach this target by 2030. This would be a major milestone towards powering electrical grids entirely with renewable energy sources.

While liquid metal batteries show promise, they are not the only nontraditional battery technology trying to solve the energy storage problem. Another interesting technology on the horizon is phase-change materials.

FutureCar Staff