Beyond Lithium-Ion: A Roadmap for Next-Generation Batteries

The lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery market is now worth more than $10 billion. Stakeholders range from materials manufacturers to car makers, and they are all deeply vested in this technology. However, around the periphery, there are claims of revolutionary next-generation technologies: Exotic architectures such as lithium-air, lithium-sulfur, solid-state, and zinc-air batteries are being hyped as packing up to 10 times the energy density of Li-ion, or more. In this report we dispel exaggerations, identify obstacles, and use our proprietary model to build a next-generation energy storage roadmap. We find that adoption will be application-dependent, and staggered: Military uses will provide the entry point for next-generation batteries around 2020, and consumer electronics will see strong solid-state battery usage by 2030, but advancing Li-ion will prove very tough to displace in transportation.