SES: The Future of Lithium Metal Battery Technology 

Fascinating view from behind the doors. You rarely see such detailed videos from inside high-tech companies.

Munro Live is always out investigating the cutting edge of technology. This is a fast moving target 🎯. Thanks for sharing with those of us that can’t access this information 🎉

This was sooo good! The whole team, the CEO, so transparent and well spoken. Eager to share their knowledge and rightfully proud of the science and innovation. At a certain point the CEO's manner of speech reminded me of Elon. In a good way. I wish SES all the best!

What a great, interesting, informative vid. These guys are building a better mousetrap. They are not afraid to expose their means and methods. Everyone moves forward.

Thanks to everyone involved in the making of this content. SES seems to really have their ducks in a row. As always, I appreciate the peek behind the curtains. Note: edited to correct the word “peak” to the proper word “peek”. Thank you to the twunt level internet spell checker for pointing out this minor/meaningless error in my attention to detail.

Thank you Sandy, Cory & Dr Hu for this video. It is rare to be able to eavesdrop on such a presentation and tour.

Great seeing the emerging technology ... Thank you Munro and SES

A great deep dive! The Limiting Factor channel will love this. Thank you so much.

Great to have SES be "open" and see their R&D. Key things were (to me). 1. Energy density 480Wh/kg. Vs 240 for Tesla LiOn at the cell, and 180 or so for Tesla at the pack level. (The pack is the important number) 2. Form factor can vary depending on end use. Providing safety is designed in. 3. Sodium ion currently is about 100Wh/kg, although HiNa Batteries say that they can get to 200. Which is fine for city driving. 4. Aircraft Inc VTOL are cost effective now with existing 200Wh/kg. Going to blow the socks off planes at $1500 per kg weight saving. That's $1.5m per tonne. Heart Aerospace with their ES19 or Wright with their BAe146 will love it. 70% of all plane trips are under 1 hour.

Love it!! making their own molecule for the metal electrolyte. That is the innovation we need as human beings.

From this whole video the most important point I lifted is that they are trying to keep their process as close to existing lithium ion manufacturing as possible. I know Sandy was disappointed they arnt doing total dry electrode, but it is my understanding that Tesla hasnt sorted out dry anode yet either. SES could change over to a dry cathode plant, keep this process for their anode, and gain the same advantages Tesla has for cathodes. Sandy was also disappointed that it isnt a cylindrical cell, but there doesnt seem to be anything about their process that is form factor dependant. Being based as close as possible on existing cell manufacturing means that they could expand into cylindrical cells just as easily as any lithium ion cell manufacturer. They also seem to be focusing their company organization on licensing their technology to other manufacturers and providing the equipment and people to make that happen. That is very exciting.

Awesome talk all around. I wish more companies were this open with the public.

This collaborative approach is refreshing. Hoping to see more of this between and amongst companies. Most companies are driven by greed and control. These guys are not and neither is Elong Musk... better future ahead as more companies take this approach to doing business.

LOVE THE SHOW 👏👏👏......HOPE EVERYONE HAS A BEAUTIFUL FRIDAY...

Thanks for the tour, very insightful!

I always liked the scientific method. It's challenging to disprove your own theories, and accept failures as progress. That's how I try to think because I make plenty of mistakes trying to refine my personal projects. No one I know understands the learning that comes with being wrong. It's inspiring to be reminded that there are very smart people out there who make a living making thoughtful mistakes. Unfortunately I got beat quite a bit as a child for making mistakes, messes, missing details in my chores. I'm old now and it holds me back to this day. I'll never reach my potential because I perceive criticism as a potential attack. So remember boys and girls, tip your cashiers and don't beat your kids.

Interesting to see if these guys can come up with a light weight, reasonable cost, energy dense battery with high cycle lift that can perform well at high and low temperatures...in that case some big manufacturer that thinks the process can be scaled up for commercial use will snap up the whole outfit for a LOT of money. This is going on all over the world, and a few will hit the jackpot. Thanks for sharing! Amusing comments from those that don't know anything about batteries, material science, or manufacturing.

It is one of the most informative and invaluable video in YoutTube. Wish the best for SES & Thank you Munro.

Great insight, thank you Monroe Live ! :)

So many news stories about battery breakthroughs that never get a second story. They must not be able to leave the lab. With so many people working on it, a real breakthrough that can be mass produced will happen someday.

Wow! Amazing Good Educational video! Really like the tour, so frank and welcome. Never seen your like that before. Might SES succeed and give us solid state battery 👍

Great content, makes RU-vid worth watching

Great walk-through of a 'energy-storage' laboratory at SES . Leveraging the science of national laboratories and practical engineering considerations; real-world applications. A lesson from my 'applied-science' engineering; HEAT and PRESSURE must be factored into any 'energy' calculations, and the resources/chemistry of energy capture/storage/delivery is changing rapidly. I can imagine that "Team Musk/Tesla" is already using AI much more effectively than 1% success-rate. The SES 'collaboration-model', though impressive, is more reliant on negotiating different objectives, for specific applications, but mass-production for consumer market's is limited. Thanks to SES and Munro for the tour.

The SES CEO speaks very much like Elon Musk. Great video, Sandy.

Thank you!

Lithium is an awesome space and future potential.

Synthwave in a Munro Video, 🎉🎉🎉 I like the nice intro no-comment setup, a good introduction on what subject is there.

Fascinating💪 and THANK YOU ! 🙏

You know its going to be good with a cool 80's synth intro....

That was great! I know that the US can figure out cleaner refining. I got hooked on ebikes a couple of years ago and am interested in batteries. There are so many new battery technologies. 18650's and 2170's are mostly what ebikes use. They're getting cheaper, but I hope to have access to lighter batteries in the near future even if they cost more.

Thank you Sandy for educating me.

Interesting didn't know they did research in the US as well!

Best insight I’ve seen on battery research!

I believe it when I see it (in a large number of vehicles)

A summary to get an idea what they are focused on wouldn't go amiss.

Their top investor is General Motors so you know they are banking on SES being successful. This is essentially second generation Ultium.

Thank you, Sandy! Really interesting video!

Very insightful vid Thnks Sandy

awesome! thanks 4 video!

Please pay attention to mic and audio quality of the videos when shooting outside Munro labs make the participants wear good quality microphones.

WoW amazing 🙏

Closed captions would be super helpful especially when masks are worn.

Honestly I feel like a battery nerd, But we all know that, incremental improvement's with battery technology, multiplies the effects of the overall vehicle performance. So interesting

feels good see gov finally spend money on right place ,great story

Superb insight to out future.

EVTOL for lithium metal with titanium collector electroplated in a thin layer of palladium or platinum for longer life :)

I like SES and hope they succeed, but I see some big hurdles for them to make this battery mass market. First is how they are making the lithium metal. Current production techniques are very toxic and expensive. Do they have a new process that is cheaper and cleaner? Current methods are actually banned in the USA. Second is the way they attach the lithium metal. At the microscopic level, you won't get great contact with the current collector, and that's why I think they need so much pressure. This can cause heavier weight and limitations with production. They might be able to produce for small niche applications next year but I don't see automotive adoption in 2026 due to volumes needed. There is another company out of Boston that spun out of the same lab as SES, that is making lithium metal directly onto copper in a fashion that uses less energy and not using toxic materials to do so. I think that idea has more mass market potential as they also claim that they can use low quality sources of lithium input to make the pure lithium metal. I really think the future of batteries js lithium metal as it has the highest potential out there and is safe, but we have a long way to go before we can buy it in our cars.

So I'm going to assume that they aren't testing solid electrolyte materials. Otherwise they would be advertising their solid state battery everywhere.

If they are using perforated Ti for weight reduction, there might be a case for perforated Cu as an intermediate solution in some instances.

Lol.. "adds a... "s"... er... "tremendous"... amount of money"... really quick thinking Sandy... Now we have a new thesaurus suggestion for "sheet load"....lol... ❤

"a battery that recharges from its environment"

Very good as normal.

Framing is on point though 🤌🏻

Scientific progress lots of failures then finally success. Awesome!!!!!

Great to see that humans finally move forward with better batteries.

From what you have seen, sandy how hard mass production would be for this technology?

A little SES Magic woud work well in "The Round." Use Green Tough to Cradle The Stuff.

Plug in your lifpak 20/20E I hear it beeping in the background in the cell manufacturing portion of the video

He gave him a free tip on using electric linear actuator for better pressure control instead of hydraulic and pneumatic and the researcher reject it!

Natural Gas for turbine engine 62% efficient like those used in new power plants for big ships. It would be a giant step forward.

Am curious what A, B and C sample mean?

To take something like this which is at lab research level to mass production takes many years and billions of dollars. That's if the technology works at mass scale and if the costs can be driven down.

Very interesting 👍. Lots of 👁‍🗨 🍬 more like window shopping for a shopaholic.

Time to get hold of a first generTion tesla 4680 battery production line

👍👍

Exec Summary: A "Lab Curiosity" in advanced development for expensive, light weight batteries for low volume Military and Aeronautical uses. Characteristics Summary: Wet electrolyte, Wet processing, Piece Part manufacturing, Expensive materials (Platinum, Lithium sheet and Nickel), large expansion co-efficient. Small production perhaps in 5-7 years. Maybe perfect for flying cars in >30 years....maybe. Best of luck. Cory: perhaps edit this to < 10 minutes, write a concise descriptive script and do a voice over narration.

They really focusing on vtols and military drones and space applications

Yeah.. I see why Sandy needed to down that whole coffee cup within the first 5 minutes..

Nice intro, audio could use a little work 😜

You don't need new material, you just need a ceramic separator.

A problem with Lithium METAL batteries is that they're more prone to self-ignite than Lithium-ion ! I'd be interested to know Munro Associates' view on the Sodium-ion batteries BYD is now using in some of their EVS actually.

What about space applications?

Wouldn't this be nice for Semi?

Pretty long video but interesting stuff 👍🏻

Looks like there's plenty of options for the future, ultra high tech Lithium, Sodium-ion batteries being developed which eventually slash battery prices due to the cheapness of sodium, and more development I've seen but can't name of the top of my head. But there's plenty brainpower pouring over this and eventually batteries will be able to power everything but rockets. And even some of them already use high tech lithium batteries to power the turbopumps and other power hungry systems around the rocket engines.

Yeah, like a kit to convert my truck to fly !

The spoon in a coffee distract me I couldn't see the video, I was worried 😂 go in eyes anytime

Environmentally speaking are batteries being made now worst for the environment than ice vehicle production and use?

That's kind of poetic, their batteries go started under the ground and are going up in the air.

Why roots in Sanghai (China) & South Korea?

Maybe those rode wireless mic might better than lapel with wire.

You need more diversity in this video of batteries. I would suggest a black trans to boost your outreach.

He gets axtra points for being named Dr. Hu 😜 Now he needs to make a Tardis

When sandy doesn’t seem quite impressed

The titanium current collector at 19:00 makes no sense to me. Titanium is a super shitty conductor of electricity, that is just going to make your battery very inefficient unless you are using incredibly low power. Especially with the "speed holes" they've added there.

There's a new li'l concern called American Battery Technology Company

😅😂"PLUMBING MATTERS" - when I saw the mechanical pressure devices[...heavy, spring-loaded, auto-adjustable], as Sandy might say "Wow, I nearly skeet my pants!"😁 Other than the heating/cooling systems; i.e heat-pumps, the "dynamic pressures" associated with energy will become more relevant, and I expect there will be systems to capture/store with 'pressurization-systems' that are integrated into the EV design. Such a vehicle will never sink[...sub-mode?] and has fresh water/air 'on-demand'.🤔

What is “HF?"

Breakthrough or bust? We'll see .....

Imagine these lighter batteries in an Aptera.... Wow! ❤️

imagine aptera get those bateries

Great video, I'm kind of tired of the Toyota half assing it, but this sort of thing is really inspiring . Camera op did a great job considering the number of people and subjects of interest in the confined areas he had to cover.

For those not familiar with physics and chemistry, and engineering, this video may seem boring.

Sun, April 2, 2023 at 12:12 PM EDT (Reuters) - Tesla Inc on Sunday missed estimates for first-quarter deliveries as a bleak economic outlook and rising competition outweighed the electric automaker's efforts to prop up demand with price cuts. Tesla delivered 422,875 vehicles compared with analyst expectations for 430,008 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data. Investors have been watching CEO Elon Musk's gamble that cutting prices would stimulate sales, making up for the profit hit from eroding margins. Shares have soared more than 68% this year on hopes that Tesla would win a price war it started, although the stock remains more than 50% down from its peak in November 2021.

Sandy = "hmm, I see 🤔🧐"

Their data sheets show very poor cycle life, 200+ cycles for the 50ah cell.

Safety, especially in an aviation platform, is #1. If you don’t lean on the safety side vs performance.. you’re going to land in a steaming pile of shit

MUNRO live - we shall see IF this pans out. Meanwhile TESLA still makes the most Advanced battery cells & lower cost . TESLA also wants a USA battery factory 🏭 with CATL as partner, to make LFP cell.

The "Future of batteries" doesn't include lithium. Come at me bro.

what is A Sample and B Sample?