Sion Power Corporation (Sion Power) reports reaching a development milestone with its Licerion Electric Vehicle (EV) technology by demonstrating more than 2,500 cycles to 70% of initial capacity. The results were achieved by a multilayer R&D pouch cell, charged in 180 minutes (C/3 rate), and completely discharged (100% depth of discharge) in 45 minutes (4C/3 rate).

The Licerion-EV 17 Ah cell has been independently verified with an actual (not projected) specific energy of 400 Wh/kg and energy density of 780 Wh/L.

Finding a practical balance between specific energy, energy density, and cycle life is a large part of battery development. This excellent R&D achievement demonstrates the headroom of our technology when it comes to developing products for commercial trucking and automotive applications.

—Tracy Kelley, CEO of Sion Power

Licerion is based on a proprietary lithium metal anode and a system of redundant protection mechanisms. Licerion is compatible with most cathode materials—including LFP and NMC—and allows cells to be engineered for specific application needs. The Licerion-EV 17 Ah cell uses a nickel-rich cathode.

Licerion is a hybrid between today’s lithium-ion and tomorrow’s solid-state batteries. It has the advantages of solid-state, but it is available today.

The current version of Sion Power’s 6 Ah large-format Licerion EV cell has exceeded 800 cycles as validated by an independent test laboratory under the identical conditions of C/3, 4C/3. The same 6 Ah cell can also be fast-charged to 80% capacity in less than 15 minutes.

Licerion is an advanced approach to lithium-metal batteries containing twice the energy in the same size and weight battery, compared to a traditional lithium-ion battery. At up to 500 Wh/kg, Licerion batteries are produced at scale in large-format cells.