Stacking vs. Winding: The 6.3% LFP Cell Energy-Density Gap Revealed by the Xiaomi SU7 Teardown
A hands-on comparison of BYD Blade (stacking) and CATL (winding) 186.7 Ah LFP cells, and its patent and strategy implications.
Fast-Charging Anode Material Patents — Why Coat Graphite Surfaces with Tungsten
Fast charging comes up almost as often as driving range in an EV purchase decision, but what actually caps charging speed is not the charger.
Can We Go Without Graphite? — The Dual-Track Strategy of Lithium Metal and Hard Carbon
The move to replace graphite anodes is not converging on a single substitute; it is proceeding along two tracks, lithium metal at the premium end and hard carbon at the entry-level end.
Why Solid Power Chose Korea — What Its Sulfide Solid Electrolyte Joint Venture Really Means
U.S. solid-state battery company Solid Power has fleshed out a plan to produce sulfide-based solid electrolyte through a joint venture (JV) with a major Korean company, presenting a blueprint that starts at an initial 500 tons in 2028 and adds 2,000-ton modules to reach a final 20,000 tons per year.
What CATL’s 2027 Solid-State Pilot Production Signals for IP Strategy
CATL has signaled solid-state pilot production for 2027. This piece explains, from an IP perspective, the phase in which its 39.9% first-half global market share converts into patent negotiating leverage.
Three Ways to Stack an Electrode Assembly — Winding, Stack & Folding, and Lamination & Stacking
Choosing a stacking method isn’t a matter of taste — it’s a design decision about which defect you’re willing to accept. This piece looks at why the location of curvature determines cell life, and at the patent landscape split across structure and equipment axes.
Dry Electrodes: Remove the Solvent and the Binder Becomes the Bottleneck — The Material Constraint of PTFE Fibrillation
What the dry electrode process sells is process cost; what it pays for it is freedom in material choice. This piece lays out how the constraint of PTFE fibrillation narrows the composition patent landscape.
The LFP Battery Patent War — Why an Invalidated Foundational Patent Still Comes Up Today
In the fight over the foundational patents for LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, what matters more than “there was a patent” is “how the patent collapsed in China.”
Three Paths for ESS Thermal Design — Air, Liquid, and Immersion Cooling: At Which Layer Do You Solve the Safety Standard?
Where do you pay the cost of passing a thermal-runaway propagation test? This piece compares three cooling architectures — air, liquid, and immersion — from the standpoint of standards, material properties, and cost.
The First Stage for a Lithium-Free Battery — Why Sodium-Ion Is Headed for the Data Center UPS
A trade — giving up energy density in exchange for a cost ceiling, full-discharge handling, and low-temperature performance: the profit-and-loss statement of sodium-ion chemistry, and why the UPS market was bound to be its first stage.