Sakuu's Metal-Free Battery Cell: Game-Changing Innovation 

I’m not a hater but I will get excited when I see these deployed commercially. I’ve been reading about battery breakthroughs for years but only very few actually make it to mass market. I hope it is successful.

I love when sandy is this happy

Sandy's in love because it doesn't have any screws in it.

Never listen to financial people of what kind of technical progress is possible. Engineers and scientists are more true valuable authorities over that.

Battery/EV tech is really advancing at rapid rates. Amazing engineering by Sakuu. Great video Sandy !

I love it when sandy is excited and happy about something he wants to share. He loves seeing disruption

Intro: ". . . THIS is the end of the ICE age. . . " Munro is poetic there.

"I'd like to show you something!" Sandy holding that new battery like a new grand-baby. LOL

Basically a Lipo minus the copper & aluminium foil. Game changing stuff !

Why no mention of charge and discharge rates?

For years, Sakuu has been playing this marketing game where they quietly flip between talking about the *existence* of this novel solid state cell, and the *performance* of their conventional Li-Ion cell to trick investors into thinking they're right around the corner from a production-ready solid-state battery with Li-Po performance. Eventually, they're going to run out of road to kick that can down, but their government contracts have made that a very long road.

Nice, but some unanswered questions are if they can be built in production quantities, are they durable in the environment of a car, and if they have sufficient calendar aging.

Ok 180-200kg for a 50KWh battery pack including case and support hardware is pretty impressive.

Incredible battery technology.

The future is looking great with this contribution to progression. Great work!!!

It will be great if we get some data on charge / discharge and cooling needed. It still needs a housing but maybe this time at the pack level instead of individual cells. Having Sandy so excited I guess there is more to it but probably part of the NDA by Sakku.

Congrats Sakuu!!!!

Lithium is a metal so it’s not metal-free but it’s metal free packaging. The innovation is the use of a conductive plastic wrap skin. Their biggest challenges will be cooling and dendrite formation. Metal casings aid cooling and allow cells to be wrapped tightly to combat dendrites.

I cannot remember seeing Sandy so intensely happy and excited about a breakthrough :)

Exciting! I just hope it can make it out of the lab and scale.

NO RUNAWAY ON THIS CELLS? THATS F*AWESOME

You can't stack cells without cell taps, otherwise you cannot monitor/balance the individual cells. Additionally, if you limit cell conductivity for "safety", you are also throwing away fast charging and any reasonable performance. (I2R losses will be high, so the cell will be inefficient)

Wow!, thanks for bringing this to our attention Sandy

Great to see Sandy back to his senses, not being impressed by Tesla only. Creativity, Innovation and disruption not limited to only one person.

This is interesting and it bring also alot of questions: 1: is the electrical contact between the cells only made by compression? which mean it will vary depending on their State Of Charge because they swell and unswell a bit during cycling? 2: is the electrical contact between cells independent from humidity? Normally cell tab are welded using laser or ultrasonic or bolted but now these only rely on simple compression between their anode and canthode direct contact out of the cell... 3: Why other are using aluminum and plastic envelope and not only plastic.. look like aluminum have some advantages to efficiently block some contaminent?

Cool but still more questions. ThX

Battery technology is still in it's infancy, and this type of evolution is so necessary to get us to the point where EVs are truly great vehicles with long range and zero incendiary risk.

Sandy always has insight into things. He calls it right.

Short and sweet but the most fundamentally game changing new battery engineering I have seen in a long long time. AND it looks viable and ready to go!!! I'm with you Sandy, super excited!

The VTOL industry should benefit quite well with this tech.

Wow, thank you Sandy. Thank you team the Highlander.😊

Very cool! Always fun to see the "impossible" being done!!

Sandy, @6:00 96 Wh is an energy, not a power. And herein lies the rub, what is the rate capability of this cell? Is it even close to sufficient at room temperature? What is the columbic inefficiency per hour? You guys really need some non biased battery consultants or staff to assist with these segments before you start declaring things like this to be the future. Lastly, current collectors play a secondary role as thermal conductors. 😅 “We’ve already done a nail penetration test…” Yea, because the rate capability is so damn poor… it’s “safe”. It’s not capable of power delivery. That’s something that a battery needs to do. This is not a cell that will work for applications like automotive. Maybe watch batteries… (not smart watches)

5:26 -Power- Energy

My mouth didn't close this whole video. This kind of product is insane

What an exiting world , thanks Sandy to spread the knowledge

I'll believe it when I see it on the market.

Everything looks beautiful when it's a prototype and they are at the beginning of seeing results, but it will be real once they start using them in a product I can buy. There is a long process to get to a final product or real application. I think the biggest obstacle is investment in tools, machinery, a big factory, and a contract.

Well done Sakuu

I love the safety features they describe. This would make it possible to integrate a printed film circuit board with designated current collector pads and isolated passthrough hole(s) in between the battery cells to get multiple voltage ranges out of a single battery stack without the need for multiple additional passive components to regulate the output. Revolutionary! like 1 stack that puts out 3-6-12-24-48 volts on separate leads from the same battery stack. this would allow for IC power, sensor power, and motor power to all be directly connected to the battery stack without the need for individual voltage supply adjustment circuits in the controller design.

Amazing. Can't wait to see them in production and in electric cars!

What's the C-rate for charge and discharge?

not only you're excited but you're so enjoyable about this type of battery. Good luck for any endeavor of Sakuu's Metal-Free team!! For me by watching your video, I understand the efficient battery still has a long way to go comparing to gas engines.

Wow, amazing!! Thank you mr. MUNRO ❤ From Italy 👋

Unusually superficial video from Sandy Munro. No real data on key metrics which govern commercial viability like charge and discharge rates, cooling and cycling durability. Also, not metal free since it contains lithium doesn’t it?

Thanks Sandy. You didn't cover how a pack would be cooled. Would be great if your team explored how to fit these cells into a pack with cooling.

Makes soooo much sense 👍

Let's wait until they reach 1000+ cycles and mass production and then check them out again. It looks promising so far, we'll see. Theoretically this could enable a 1 MWh Semi battery that only weighs 3 tons or a 100 kWh pack that weighs about 300 kg, a 55 kWh pack that weighs about 170 kg, for the SR Model 3 or Robotaxi etc.

Sakuu, Storedot, Solidpower, Quantumscape, Amprius. All it takes is for one of them to succeed and it will cause a paradigm shift.

There is so much work to do getting a product from lab to production. Prototyping is easy but production is hell!!!

When he laid the second battery on top of the first and then retested it with a volt meter proves that it not only works but Sakuu's R&D program is pushing the limits of battery cell technology. Looks like a sound investment. It will most likely take years to see their tech in EV's and Vtols but the fact that he showed a working prototype means its a step in the right direction. Like semiconductors the tech has to get smaller, lighter and more dense yet exceed its capabilities through future generations in order to be successful. Great vid hope to see more as their development moves forward.

Sandy, you always have me learning something ☺️

This seems potentially revolutionary

I missed Information regarding fast charging in terms of the C-Rate. And another pount is that having no metal plates has also disadvantages. the coolung of this cells I think can be a problem. Questuon is, how good are this polymers wirh thermal resistance and how will this plates expand during the charging process.

Now we can build our batteries into our body panel! This creates many benefits including safety as a barrier for impact and lowers the weight of the Battery cell and even be used to heat the car to get snow off. So many advantages to the system.

Really excellent report on this leading edge, bipolar approach that may effectively enable "cells" of any voltage, rather than just 3.8v - 4.3v per "cell," depending basically upon how many layers you choose to put in the stack (basically the number of layers you need for whatever system operating voltage you prefer). Clearly, this bipolar approach could lead to lower weight in the battery "pack" and lower cost, by eliminating the packaging of each individual low voltage cell along with its interconnection to typically two other cells. Depending on any necessary thermal management requirement and approach, this bipolar stacking of low voltage layers could lead to higher energy density for the pack as well, with the same basic chemistry, compared to cylindrical, prismatic or pouched "cells" in any other battery pack. Production cost should also be reduced by the dry coating/printing process that minimizes or avoids entirely the liquid solvents typically utilized today, as well as the flammable liquid electrolytes in use. By non-metallic, I think the Sakuu spokesperson is stating there is no need for the typical metal layers typically required for current collection for each individual cell, usually Aluminum or Copper. However, there might still be metal(lic) ions used to shuttle the charges back and forth between the electrodes of each layer, whether these are ions of Lithium, Sodium or perhaps another metal ion readily exchanged via the electroltye medium, although a non-metal based ion might be utilized instead. If a lithium, sodium or other metal ion originating from a pure metal layer is used to shuttle the charges back and forth, then a primary challenge with this type of battery will be to maintain the integrity of the seals against leakage of air or water into the stack, as air or water would be highly reactive with any pure lithium or other pure metal layer, like with the pure metallic lithium battery that the company has already demonstated can withstand >1000 100% DOD C/3 = 3-hour discharge cycles (with 1C = 1-hour recharges immediately after the full discharges), though no nail-pincture test results are mentioned regarding these lithium-metal batteries, nor is there any mention of the seal integrity issue. Yet, the Sakuu spokesperson says the bipolar battery passed the nail penetration test, which suggests that it is not using any pure lithium or other metal layer. In this case, the energy density will be lower, but overall energy and power densities could still exceed that of conventional "cell" based lithium batteries at the pack level, again depending upon any requirement for and the approach taken for thermal management. Regarding thermal management, the requirement for heat extraction should be less and the time required should also be less to evenly thermally condition the bipolar layers for normal or optimal output performance and charging, and maximizing battery life. To summarize, from what has been stated, a 10%-20% reduction in weight, volume and cost does seem reasonable to project with the shown bipolar, non-metallic approach (i.e., neither pure lithium nor sodium anode). Additionally, if the integrity of the seals can be somehow guaranteed, as suggested (but not shown) with its pure lithium cells, then this bipolar approach might potentially boost the pack's energy density by an additional 40% or more, as well as further lowering the pack cost/kWh.

Sounds like a decent start, but exciting battery technologies tend to do poorly in some specific area: temperature losses, dendrites, internal ohmic losses, aging, vibration, etc. They need a white paper discussing all of these aspects, even if they have only modeled it thus far.

My concerns are charging/discharging currents though the batteries when stacked in series. Thermal expansion/contraction of the series stacked cells, the contact pressure and current capacity between the cells could be come variable and cause hot spots. Thermal control is also a concern. There are a lot of things to prove out but I like the concept a lot!

I love that intro! Nice one, Sandy. 🙂👍 Well done, Sakoo!

Power 96 Wh? Energy 96 Wh!

This is amazing because you don't even need a battery tray anymore. You can have stacks of these polymer layers in the doors, the pillars, the wheel wells, and everywhere throughout the car!

Fantastic, great great great

Wow just wow!!!

Munro power made them reveal their breakthrough. Only Sandy can do this. Thank you!

Great to see! Are you in discussions with any battery manufacturers about licensing? I can't imagine they wouldn't be excited about this if its a viable technology.

When I was an Env Science major 20 years ago, the talk was all on how battery tech was the albatross. But between Toyota's supposed advances in Solid State and this, it seems its finally catching up to the rest.

Oh wow! Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. 😍

Interesting. Reminiscent of the Polaroid instant camera battery. What is the current per cell? What is the charge rate ( and can it be charged at 10C etc)? What is the discharge rate? What about thermals? And thermals relative to peak charge and discharge? Can it be fully charged and discharged? We need a full comparison matrix.

Generally there are battery management systems that monitor the voltages of paralleled cells in a series string to make sure they are all working correctly. I assume a BMS would still be needed with these..

Wow. Very dope!

This is still a young product with great potential. WOW! Any mention of heat and heat dissipation? Holy S#!t Olly there goes the solid state battery! Good video Sandy! 🇨🇦

What's the charge/discharge current? With no metal, surely internal resistance (both electrical an thermal) has to be much higher?

Sandy, when you do a review of a battery technology, you need too ask ALL the questions needed to determine viability. Performance over temperature, ie -50C to 50C. Cycle life, needs to be 2500+. Hoping for a 1000 cycles is not encouraging.

I am looking forward to mass production. Good luck!

I can't wait to see this mass produced

Dare you to connect a brake light bulb to it for 5 minutes! 😂

The slide they showed gave a KWh number for power. That was a typo. Power is Watts Energy is KWh. What is the POWER of the cells? They bragged about the resistance improving safety, but with the resistance, it seems like there will be a lot of heat.... How is the heat extracted? This will limit both power and charge rate. Without more info it is hard to say, but it looks like these cells are best suited for applications where the current through the cell can be kept very low.

Holy grail 😮

Interesting development 👍 Looking forward to seeing more..

Extremely interesting cell design, but it's not apples to apples to compare the energy density. The outer casing of the 4680 is thicker than it needs to be to contribute to the structure of the battery pack. Unless you guys are directly comparing just the internal 4680 jelly role to Sakuu's design?

Charge/discharge rates?

Stinking beautiful!!! Wow!

Amazing!

Sandy investing in Sakuu then! 😂, charge and discharge details?

What's the battery life?

Looks like a GREAT next step in battery tech ! Can't wait till they're on the market.

Sandy Munro's enthusiasm is infectious. There are questions of power, cooling, scaling, temperature performance, and cycling details (yes 1000 cycles tested, but what about short cycles, fast cycles, high and low temp cycles)

Big Question: When will we see these batteries in BEVs like from Tesla? Also, I’m guessing that they do not need any liquid cooling?

I'm still worried about that SHARK 10 yards away...

People who say it can't be done only present a challenge for those who get things done. Effort is rewarding.

As a some what informed consumer, I'm glad we are seeing all these new technologies, but what succeeds in the market is what can be mass produced at the right cost.

I saw the Munro Cybertruck on Williams Lake road a few days ago!!! So Cool.

I heard no mention of the discharge rate? The Tesla Plaid is doing a 9.1 second 1/4 mile. Can these batteries handle that sort of discharge rate?

Rebuildable!

Great Idea? Absolutely!

No hardball questions from Sandy. Just an advertisement.

On traditional cells the metal foil conducts heat away from the cell. How are they going to cool these ?

Wow this is incredible and a tremendous battery innovation! The comparison between the 4680 cell and Sakuu battery was awesome showing the safety, volume and density advantages. The manufacturing and recycling process will be much more efficient and less expensive. This is huge! I heard that the Sakuu battery has been tested up to 1,000 recharging cycles and they are working on incorporating other tech to improve. One thing I did not hear was what is the actual charging rate. Depending on what that is, it’s a game changer and is the future. The next big step is bringing this to market and timeline.

Wow this is amazing...

Why hasn’t anyone told Elon to buy this company