2022 Automotive News Canada All-Stars

The long-awaited breakthrough in battery technology could be at hand, thanks to Markham, Ont.-based Li-Metal. It is producing lithium anodes expected to nearly double the capacity of EV power cells.

Typical lithium ion batteries use graphite as the anode (the negative pole of a battery). But Chief Commercial Officer Dean Frankel says turning to lithium as the anode material could either halve battery weight or nearly double capacity.

“Unless we invent new elements, (lithium) really is as good as it gets for the negative half of the battery,” he says. The new batteries achieve more than 300 watt-hours per kilogram, up from today’s 180, he said. Cost is a factor, but Li-Metal is running a pilot R&D centre north of Toronto to produce lithium up to 30 per cent less expensively and is shipping lithium anodes from its plant in Rochester, N.Y.