xEV Battery Technology and Market

This joint presentation by Tesla and Analog Devices will demonstrate how Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) can provide early warning of thermal runaway (TR) in electric vehicle (EV) battery packs. By measuring the impedance of individual cells, we can unlock insights into internal failures that precede TR. To enhance reliability and reduce false positives, we incorporate intelligent signal processing and decision algorithms that distinguish genuine TR indicators from noise or benign variations, enabling proactive safety measures and more robust battery management systems.

Will update SSB, discuss safety mechanisms of SSB and LSB, and the role of separators. Solid-state batteries (SSBs) have been widely promoted as a solution for high-energy, safe energy storage systems. However, recent findings reveal that SSBs using high-voltage, high-energy cathodes—such as LCO, LNO, NMC811, and other oxygen-releasing materials at elevated temperatures—can exhibit serious safety problems. In particular, frequent fire and explosion events have been observed during internal short circuits. This presentation will address the safety behaviour and underlying mechanisms of SSBs, with direct comparison to liquid-state batteries (LSBs). Testing results show that, during internal shorts in high-energy systems, the severity of fire and explosion follows the order: SSB > LSB. The data indicate a counterintuitive trend—the greater the liquid content in the battery, the safer its behaviour under abuse conditions. The safety severity also shows strong dependence on the anode materials: Lithium metal > Silicon/carbon composite > Graphite > Hard carbon. A safety mechanism, starting from the basic battery fundamentals to production, explaining these observations will be proposed. Notably, separator quality and functionality play a critical role in overall battery safety. The separator’s capability for controlled air (oxygen) transport can significantly enhance safety performance in both SSB and LSB designs.

Vents are crucial for battery pack safety, especially under thermal runaway conditions. As battery cell chemistry and pack designs evolve, selecting appropriate venting units becomes increasingly important. The presentation provides an overview of regulatory and technological trends influencing vent design and introduces additional features such as gas sensors and hot particle filters.

Lithium-Sulfur-Batteries provide enhanced specific energy at low material costs. However, the liquid based sulfur conversion chemistry involving dissolved polysulfides leads to many unsolved challenges. Utilising solid-solid sulfur conversion pathways leads to completely different specifications on cell level. The talk will discuss chances and challenges of this technology based on data achieved on multilayer pouch cells.

Automotive OEMs and suppliers face rapid innovation cycles in cells, BMS, and battery system, intensifying performance and cost pressure and stretching platform investments. Our platform updateability blueprint shows how early definition of battery platform updateability across defined mechanical, electrical, thermal, and software interfaces enables the fast phase-in of new technologies within existing platforms.

Innovative integration of an aluminum cooling plate, serving as the enclosure base, into a thermoplastic battery housing via one-shot injection moulding enables significant cost and weight reduction. This approach combines the thermal performance of an aluminum cooling plate with the structural and design benefits of a plastic enclosure. The design supports C2P/C2M architectures, reduces pack Z-height, and enhances mechanical functionality. Proven manufacturability, validated performance, and safety meet all housing requirements while maintaining thermal performance from aluminum cold plates.

Internal pressure management within battery packs is gaining critical relevance due to its direct implications for operational safety, durability, and overall performance. Moreover, emerging battery technologies introduce additional challenges associated with higher internal pressures and increased cell swelling. This presentation addresses recent technological developments for internal pressure control in both conventional lithium-ion systems and next-generation solid-state battery systems, without compromising energy density, packaging efficiency, or cost competitiveness.

Lithium-air batteries (LaB) offer theoretical energy density of ~5200 Wh/kg through complete 4-electron oxygen reduction to Li2O, rivaling gasoline's energy content. Current liquid-electrolyte LaBs perform incomplete reductions, yielding a small fraction of theoretical capacity. Solid Energies Inc. advance solid-state lithium-air battery (SSLaB) technology, overcoming this limitation along with the risk associated with liquid electrolytes, through the integration of a novel polymer-based solid-state electrolyte with multiscale porous cathodes, transforming SSLaB technology from laboratory concept to practical ultrahigh-energy-density product that can deliver ultrahigh energy density of 1000 Wh/Kg in SSLaB pouch cells, four times of those of current Li-ion batteries.

Sustainability in battery development is rapidly emerging as a critical focus, requiring companies to align regulations, engineering practices, and business models under increasing complexity. This presentation introduces a structured matrix approach that enables organizations to map their challenges and opportunities across these dimensions. Attendees will gain practical insights into how this framework supports compliance, design-for-x principles, digitally enabled lifecycle strategies, and resilience. By representing sustainability in a holistic, actionable way, the matrix helps turn regulatory pressure into innovation and competitive advantage—providing a roadmap for decision-makers to navigate the future of sustainable battery development.

Price parity between battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and internal combustion engines (ICE) remains the critical enabler for achieving OEM BEV penetration targets. Yet despite Western OEM commitments to achieve BEV-ICE cost and margin parity within this decade, current strategic planning reveals persistent execution gaps in realizing this ambition. Comprehensive cost optimization – particularly the battery system – is essential to close this gap. This presentation synthesizes current market developments, OEM strategic responses, and the geopolitical trade-offs shaping the pathway to margin parity in a LFP-centric BEV landscape.

Cost and supply chain security has inspired an uptick in battery chemistries alternatives to Li-ion. In particular, Na-ion is poised to directly compete with Li-ion in terms of cost and application suitability for certain use cases. This talk will provide Lux Research's outlook on the cost and innovation of Na-ion batteries and beyond, and provide an actionable framework to build up the industry.

The session will examine the key drivers of battery cost reduction, with recent Chinese developments used as a platform for identifying potential opportunities for Western producers to optimise production cost. Utilising Benchmark’s mine-to-grid battery supply chain coverage, these insights into 2030 battery cost will inform potential demand scenarios for technology adoption, assessing the cost competitiveness of alternative technologies including sodium ion and solid-state batteries.

An electric revolution is taking place in the aircraft sector. Rapid advances in the energy density of lithium-ion cells are enabling a new category of electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically like a helicopter, but with less noise, no emissions, at a much lower price, and with greater safety. These so-called eVTOL (electrical Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft do not require complex infrastructure and are thus paving the way for a new market segment in aviation, which NASA refers to as Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

Breakthroughs in battery technology are accelerating, but leaders still struggle to see which chemistry or architecture will dominate next. This session introduces a first-of-its-kind agentic forecasting method developed by GetFocus from MIT research that uses global patent data, NLP, and improvement-rate modeling to quantify the true pace of battery innovation. Attendees will gain a clear, data-driven view of where xEV battery technology is heading and how fast.