ELIAS project: a new generation of solid-state batteries

Battery requirements to quadruple in a decade

New uses, ecological transition, planetary limits... The need for batteries - mobile and stationary electrical storage systems - is set to quadruple over the decade, reaching a market of 2,500 GWh in 2030. While 3rd-generation liquid-electrolyte lithium-ion batteries could capture most of the growth, they will not achieve the performance levels expected in the medium and long term. Hence the need to develop "breakthrough" lithium battery technologies with enhanced capacities, thanks to their predominantly or even exclusively solid composition. These solid-state lithium batteries, also known as 4th generation batteries, are the answer to this challenge.

A new generation of solid-state batteries

The ELIAS (Eléments Lithium Avancés Tout Solide) project, dedicated to the development of this new generation of solid-state batteries, offers a high level of performance without compromising safety. This project is supported by Saft, a French company with over 100 years' experience, a pioneer in the field of industrial batteries, and a worldwide presence with 19 sites. It produces industrial batteries for its customers' applications on land, at sea, in the air and in space.

A consortium of academic and industrial partners

Building on its pioneering spirit, Saft has been leading a specific innovation program since 2018: the development of the all-solid battery. To this end, the industrialist has on the one hand strengthened its collaboration panel with academic and industrial partners, notably the Elias consortium, and on the other invested in a prototyping line for its Bordeaux site, which will be operational by the end of 2024. The Elias consortium, made up of 6 academic and industrial players, aims to improve energy density by more than 50% compared with lithium-ion batteries, which today produce 250 Wh/kg. A revolution of this kind can only be achieved by working together.

This ambitious project, supported by France 2030 and operated by Bpifrance, was validated in January 2023. It will run for 4 years, until January 2027. Saft has called on the best partners to cover the entire value chain: Ingecal, an SME with expertise in the equipment used to produce electrodes and solid electrolytes; PolymerExpert, an SME specializing in R&D and the formulation of technical polymers; CEA Liten, an internationally recognized research organization, notably for electrochemical energy storage solutions; the Institut de Chimie Radicalaire (ICR, CNRS/Aix-Marseille Université), a laboratory with expertise in materials for energy, particularly innovative polymers; and the Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay (ICMMO, CNRS/Paris Saclay University), specialized in materials and energy, and particularly in electrical characterization.