Stellantis, Zeta Energy, and Lyten are both working independently and collaborating to develop Lithium-sulfur batteries in a move to reduce prices and increase output and cycle life.
Electrive’s lead paragraph heralds the advantages. “The automotive group Stellantis is entering into a partnership with the Texan battery specialist Zeta Energy to develop lithium-sulfur (LiS) batteries that should enable 50 per cent faster charging, among many other advantages. The new battery technology is said to be significantly more powerful and cheaper than lithium-ion batteries and does not require cobalt, graphite, manganese, or nickel.” The duo is partnering with Lyten, which has achieved its own breakthroughs in lithium-sulfur technology.

Zeta Energy Corp uses unrefined sulfur – a byproduct or leftover waste of various industries – inside its Li-S batteries Image: Zeta Energy Corp
The group comprises a sizable investment base, with Stellantis having a $38.52 billion market cap; LG, $7.77 billion, and Zeta, $4.77 billion.
Materials
Because of the different materials, prices will drop, and availability will be enhanced. Non-use of cobalt, graphite, manganese, or nickel will avoid sourcing from foreign entities, some of which use child and slave labor to obtain cobalt, for instance. Manganese has a high manufacturing emissions problem that reduces its suitability.
In a recent report, Electrek explains the new difficulties in obtaining “difficult” materials, predicting a supply crunch for many of them by 2030. Stellantis and collaborators hope to offset this by powering all their electric vehicles with the new batteries by that time and onwards.
The Promise of New Materials
Of great promise, according the makers, the new batteries are made from waste materials and methane, resulting in significantly lower CO2 emissions than with any existing battery technology. Because they don’t need cobalt, graphite, manganese or nickel, the supply chain is more reliable.
Add to that scavenging bankrupt firms that failed in their attempts to develop lithium-ion batteries or their own new technologies. For all that, most plants look much the same and have the same machinery for creating batteries. It won’t take much to convert them to lithium-sulfur manufacturing.
Performance?
There’d be little point in unleashing a technology that couldn’t approximate the performance of current cells. If CleanTechnica is correct, there are even additional benefits.
“For customers, this means potentially a significantly lighter battery pack with the same usable energy as contemporary lithium-ion batteries, enabling greater range, improved handling and enhanced performance,” Stellantis emphasizes.
“Additionally, the technology has the potential to improve fast-charging speed by up to 50%, making EV ownership even more convenient. Lithium-sulfur batteries are expected to cost less than half the price per kWh of current lithium-ion batteries.”
Cheaper and lighter, the new batteries will make it more profitable to make EVs. They’ll improve handling, and because of their lighter weight, improve tire life, a bane of many current vehicles.
Output is pegged at 400 to 600 Watt-hours per kilogram, certainly in a high level of competitiveness.
Whither Stellantis?
Perhaps the biggest question is about Stellantis, the biggest player in the pack. A few year ago, a former director of the company was urging people not to buy their EVs. The current directorship seems more customer friendly, citing their initiative to press forward with their StarPlus program. According to CleanTechnica, “At full capacity, the StarPlus project will produce about 67 GWh of batteries, enough to supply approximately 670,000 vehicles annually,” the Energy Department enthuses, emphasizing that the factories will “reduce America’s reliance on adversarial foreign nations like China.”
CleanTechnica adds one last possible rock in the road. “That, too, remains to be seen. One high profile member of the incoming administration, Vivek Ramaswamy, has already pledged to ‘scrutinize’ the StarPlus loan in Indiana and the Rivian loan in Georgia under his forthcoming authority as co-leader of the new ‘DOGE’ (Department of Government Efficiency”) advisory commission.”
Despite what looks like a promising new technology and apparently the best of intentions, we may have to wait until the post-inaugural period to see where this all goes.
Comments 1
DOGE – if that slows US battery independence from China, especially DOD applications and EV competitive positioning for US and EU in the name of cost savings we have the perfect illustration of stupid.