How Lithium-Ion Batteries Work

On 20 October 2026 the Chinese carmaker Chery unveiled a solid-state battery cell it rates at 400 watt-hours per kilogram, and on 21 October Dongfeng said its semi-solid battery is scheduled for mass adoption in 2027. This film explains the lithium-ion battery they are trying to improve: how a cell stores energy, with lithium ions moving inside through the electrolyte while electrons travel through the outside circuit; the three steps by Stanley Whittingham, John Goodenough and Akira Yoshino that led to the first commercial cells in 1991 and the 2019 Nobel Prize; how energy density rose and prices fell; why lithium metal grows dendrites and what thermal runaway is; and what a solid electrolyte changes, with company claims shown as claims.

Ions inside, electrons outside

What is in the battery in your pocket?

Inside the cell

Four parts and two paths

Three steps

Why lithium, and why it took three chemists

Denser, cheaper

Three decades of improvement

The limits

Spikes and heat

Going solid

Promise, claims and dates

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