Battery supplier SES has built a pilot production line capable of scaling up high-concentration, solvent-in-salt electrolyte production. The pilot line is capable of synthesizing SES’s proprietary solvent and manufacturing a high-concentration solvent-in-salt electrolyte formulation designed for SES’s hybrid Li-metal automotive batteries. The facility is currently capable of producing 5 tons of electrolyte per year, and the company says this can be expanded to 250 tons to meet projected future demand.

SES’s battery technology features proprietary solvent molecules that have low volatility and are self-extinguishing. SES says its unique electrolyte formulation is stable with lithium metal, and enables hybrid batteries that have high energy density over a wide range of temperature and power requirements, as well as enhanced cycle life and safety.

“This pilot production capability at our Shanghai facility will ensure that SES will be prepared to meet electrolyte supply needs,” said SES founder Qichao Hu. “Our electrolyte pilot production capability is a key enabler for SES’s development of automotive-sized hybrid Li-metal batteries.”

Source: SES