The Battery With No Anode: Why “Anode-Free” Lithium Metal Cells Could Rewrite EV Range—and Why That’s Hard
Every few months, a headline promises a “double-range EV battery.” Most of the time, the fine print reveals a familiar trade: higher energy density, but poorer life, tougher safety constraints, or a design that only works in tiny lab cells. The recent wave of coverage around anode-free lithium metal batteries is different for one reason: the concept targets the biggest “dead weight” inside today’s lithium-ion cells—the anode itself—and replaces it with something almost laughably simple: a bare copper current collector. If you’ve ever looked at a battery as a carefully packed sandwich of materials, anode-free designs are an attempt to remove one entire layer and still keep the sandwich edible. What does “anode-free” actually mean? In a conventional lithium-ion battery, the anode (usually graphite) stores lithium during charging. In an anode-free lithium metal battery, there is no lithium-hosting anode material at the start. Instead: Lithium originates from the cathode (the po...