Watch Out for These Upcoming Lithium-ion Battery Technologies

We’ve covered graphene batteries, which use nanotechnology to allow lithium-ion batteries to recharge in minutes rather than hours. The future looks bright for tool batteries, batteries for use in the IoTs, and even larger power solutions for battery generators and EVs. While graphene use continues to mature, it seems like a good time to take a moment to review some of the latest advancements in lithium-ion battery technology that are currently underway.

The Most Recent Battery Pack and Technology Advances

Manufacturers such as Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita, Flex, Skil, and Hilti have introduced updated Li-ion battery packs that promise either more runtime, greater capacity, additional power output, better heat retention, or some combination in between. This abridged list represents some of the more advanced leaps in technology lithium-ion battery packs have made in the past several years alone:

DeWalt PowerPack 8Ah battery — DeWalt 8Ah PowerPack battery

A History of Milwaukee batteries — DeWalt 8Ah PowerPack battery

A majority of the battery pack advances have to do with either the use of new battery cells or new battery form factors (such as DeWalt PowerStack pouch cells). Some manufacturers, such as DeWalt and Milwaukee, even have different batteries that demonstrate both.

Tabless Cells (Like Tesla’s 4680 Lithium-ion Battery Cells)

On Tesla Battery Day, we saw the announcement of a tabless 4680 battery cell. It delivers six times the power and five times the energy of a 2170 (aka 21700) cell. That lets it deliver 16% more range on EV vehicles like those produced by Tesla. Just the form factor of this cell alone results in a 14% reduction in dollars per kilowatt-hour.

Tesla 4680 tabless lithium-ion battery cell

With these battery cells, you coat the active materials onto films, just as you would with any other battery. However, you get a dramatically accelerated winding process for these cells because you don’t need to stop for the tab. They then assembled the “jellyroll” into the can where the electrolyte is added, and everything is finished up.

The tabless 4680 battery not only produces a larger cell. It also increases the production capacity of these cells, allowing them to charge and discharge more quickly. This is possible because the tabless design dramatically shortens the distance the electrons need to travel.

The other thing to note is that tabless cells use “Tesla” silicon in the anode. This produces a highly effective but extremely economical design with up to a 20% range extension for cells. On the cathode side, Tesla is working on using higher concentrations of nickel without cobalt for some cells.

You can get a whole lot more information about these batteries by watching the Tesla Battery Day presentation here:

Tabless cells are showing up in power tool batteries everywhere and include select packs from these lines:

They do indeed provide a combination of increased heat dissipation, leading to longer runtime and greater power output before thermal shutdown occurs. This has allowed, for example, 18V power tool batteries to output as much as 100-amps of current or more for high-load applications.

More Advanced LFP (LiFePO₄, Lithium Iron-Phosphate) Technology

Lithium iron-phosphate (LFP or LiFePO₄) battery packs have been used for several years in portable power stations, battery jump starters, and home battery backup generator solutions. LFP, while heavier and denser than lithium-ion cells, has several key advantages. The biggest is thermal stability. These cells can handle long-term discharges without generating heat that would damage lithium-ion cells or cause a system using them to enter thermal shutdown.

LFP also typically offers much longer cycle life—particularly when engaging in frequent deep discharges. This is what regularly occurs when you use batteries for home backup, solar cycling, and jobsite power. Do that with lithium-ion, and you would quickly lose capacity over a shorter period of time. Some portable battery generators already using LFP cells include the EcoFlow DELTA Series and the BLUETTI AC200 (both claim over 3,000 Life Cycles).

Another LFP Advancement comes from BYD, a Chinese EV company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. The BYD “Blade Battery” uses only minimal amounts of cobalt and exists as an ultra-strong structure with a long, flat form factor. It passes the industry-standard Nail Penetration Test, giving off no smoke or fire and maintaining a low surface temperature (< 60°C) during a puncture event. They also perform crushing and bending tests and even heat it in an oven to 300 degrees Celsius. Lastly, they run a 260% overload scenario. It failed to ignite or combust in any of these tests.

Beyond just safety—which we can’t overstate for EV use—the Blade Battery improves space usage by 50%. This lets you place more batteries in the same space or ensure larger EV packs take up less space while providing more range. The design features an aluminum honeycomb-like structure, making it rigid and also easier to install.

Upcoming Battery Technology Advances (Near Future)

Graphene-Enhanced Batteries

Vorbeck and researcher Ilhan Aksay at Princeton University, [DOE] demonstrated that small quantities of graphene in batteries—an ultra-thin sheet of carbon atoms—can dramatically improve the power and cycling stability of lithium-ion batteries and maintain high storage capacity. Combined with Georgia Tech’s work on self-assembling nanotech, the pioneering work could lead to the development of graphene-based batteries that have two major advantages:

They can store larger amounts of energy in the same size package, and
They can recharge much more quickly.

Latest Lithium-Ion Battery Advancements — Um…Molecules may appear larger than their actual size.

Graphene allows more ions to transfer between the cathode and the anode, decreasing charging time. But there’s a catch: although graphene improves efficiency, it increases the distance the ions must travel. This has impeded improvements in graphene-based batteries, but new research may have a solution.

As Ars Technica reported in a 2016 article, scientists can use magnetism to align graphene and straighten paths taken by the ions. They coated the otherwise non-magnetic graphene flakes with iron oxide nanoparticles and introduced a magnetic field. Consequently, the “tortuosity (the crooked, winding, or twisted nature) of the paths through the electrode decreased by a factor of four” when compared to the control group. That represents more than just coincidence or average.

Silicon-Enhanced Graphite Anodes

Silicon-enhanced anodes should greatly improve battery production for the EV as well as portable generator markets. Currently, graphite serves as the primary anode material in batteries due to its stability and high energy density. It also makes up the majority of the component costs and materials. Mining graphite, however, is a dirty, expensive process and one that is dominated by China. Importantly, this technology promises to work within existing lithium-ion manufacturing infrastructure, making it cost-effective and scalable.

The thought is that, if silicon anodes can reach levels of 181 watt-hours per pound of energy density, they can lower manufacturing costs, lessen environmental impact, and improve upon the typical 90-136 Wh/lb energy density that’s typical in today’s lithium-ion batteries. The technology, as it stands now, also promises over 1,200 charging cycles. Some of the remaining challenges to this technology involve swelling of the electrolyte, cell expansion, and irreversible fading of maximum charge capacity when used to extremes.

LMR (Lithium Manganese-Rich) Prismatic Cells for EVs

LMR has a singular aim: to lower the reliance on expensive and supply-strained cobalt and nickel. It promises to do this while maintaining the energy density required of EV battery cells and packs. Assuming GM and its partner, LG, can bring this to market and make it scalable, it would result in the lowering of the most expensive component in EVs today. Don’t expect this technology to hit before 2028, however—it still has a long way to go according to GM’s May 2025 press release.

Solid State Batteries

In 2017, the inventor of the Li-ion battery, John B. Goodenough (yes, that’s his actual name), developed a breakthrough in solid-state battery technology that could eventually replace lithium-ion in certain applications. Replace it with what, you ask? With a much more available resource: sodium! Our article referenced above offers a sneak peek into what might be the next dominant battery format.

Others are also actively working on solid-state battery technology. According to Toyota, its partnership with Idemitsu may result in the mass production of sulfide-based solid-state batteries (sulfide solid electrolytes) as early as 2027 or 2028.

Far-Reaching Lithium-ion Battery Technology (That May Never Materialize)

Self-Healing Batteries

One of the more impressive technologies came about with a report on self-healing Li-ion batteries. With batteries, damage accumulates over time from either physical damage or even just high levels of discharge and heat. As a result, the efficiency of the batteries degrades, leading to eventual failure. Self-healing batteries promise to extend the life of these cells and packs beyond what’s expected.

As our article explains, self-healing batteries may never reach the market as such, but they may improve how existing batteries hold up over time, retaining capacity and allowing for high cycle rates.

Nano-sized Lithium-ion Batteries

The development of nano-sized Lithium-ion batteries also caught our eye. With these, we’re looking at miniaturization of components and technology. While these don’t promise power tool power levels, that leaves plenty of opportunity for electronics we have yet to even imagine.

Why This Matters

Why does any of this matter? Well, if even one or two of these new technologies become reproducible at scale, we could experience another wave of lithium-ion battery evolution. That could equal any combination of the following:

Smaller pack sizes
Greater run-times
More power output
Better heat dissipation
Superior pack durability
Longer pack use before the loss of charge capacity or cycles

These are fascinating times. We’ll keep you apprised of new developments as we discover them. If you’ve heard of any additional lithium-ion battery advancements we didn’t include, please let us know in the comments below. Also, if you’re a Pro, we want to hear about which advancement would help you the most in your job or trade.