Joining the lithium battery race

Atlantic storm Isha blew through Sint-Truiden, Belgium, a town 65 km from Brussels—and the headquarters of the battery start-up Solithor—earlier this year, knocking over bicycles and motorbikes. Solithor is hoping to make a strong entrance of its own in the battery world with a highly energy-dense battery based on a lithium-metal anode and a novel solid electrolyte. On paper, Solithor doesn't stand much chance of competing with the 50-plus other companies developing lithium-metal batteries. Some of them, such as the US firms QuantumScape and Solid Power, have been working on the challenge for more than a decade and thrown hundreds of millions of dollars at it. Solithor started up in 2021 and has since raised only about 14 million in funding and grants. But the first commercial lithium-metal battery has yet to be made, leaving the door ajar for a company that can move fast with the right technology.