Stellantis has announced an investment in the company Lyten, in order to develop a lithium-sulfur battery, which should save weight in electric cars.
Stellantis, the group born from the merger between Fiat and PSA, will invest in Lyten. This investment should help the Californian start-up develop its three-dimensional graphene, a “supermaterial” that could be applied in lithium-sulfur batteries for electric cars.
These batteries have several advantages. Already, they use neither nickel, nor cobalt, nor manganese, which gives according to Stellantis “a carbon footprint estimated at more than 60% lower than that of the best current batteries”. Lyten indeed promises a carbon-neutral material. The raw materials used are located in North America and Europe, which would facilitate the production of batteries in the group’s two main markets.
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In addition, lithium-sulfur batteries have twice the energy density compared to lithium-ion chemistry. The technology must therefore correct one of the major shortcomings of current batteries: their weight. Lithium-sulfur technology is promised to be much lighter, which is good news for reducing the mass of the car and therefore its consumption.
For Carlos Tavares, boss of Stellantis, “Lyten’s lithium-sulfur battery could be a critical component to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles around the world.” No comments on costs were made, however.
The American company began to produce its innovation on an experimental scale. It will launch the first commercial applications outside the automotive sector by the end of the year. For batteries in Stellantis cars, it will be necessary to wait until the end of the decade.
