Nonaqueous Li-Air Batteries: A Status Report

The major issue confronting complete electrification of road transport is simply a battery problem. While both metrics are undoubtedly important, which of the two is the most important for EV applications is somewhat debated, even among the different EV manufacturers. Traditional car companies emphasize more the importance of energy density, while Tesla emphasizes more the specific energy since they tend to design a car around the battery pack. The history of rechargeable non-aqueous Li-air batteries at this stage is so short that the field must be considered a work in progress. In fact, even the basic mechanisms and rationale for many of the fundamental properties of Li-air are still in dispute among many of the researchers in the field.