With the development and dissemination of lithium batteries, mobile use of larger amounts of power or electrically powered devices and vehicles became possible in the first place, because compared to the previously used battery technologies (such as nickel-cadmium batteries, kurz NiCd-Batterien, or lead-acid batteries – both were once quite common battery types), lithium batteries have a multitude of advantages that make them ideal for the mobile provision of power. The most important advantages of Li-ion batteries in overview:
Lithium batteries have an extremely high energy density
The most important property of lithium-ion batteries is their high energy density. Depending on the design, a Li-ion battery has two to four times the energy density of a comparable NiCd battery, compared to a lead battery the factor is four to seven. This makes it possible to store large amounts of energy in a small space and, for example, drive electric cars over long distances.
Four- to sevenfold energy density compared to other accumulators
To reach comparable distances, for example, an electric car powered by a lead battery would have to carry four- to sevenfold the weight of the battery compared to a lithium-ion battery. The high energy density is an important advantage when using Li-ion batteries – but it also comes with a risk, if for example the battery catches fire and one has to extinguish an electric car.
High cycle life and long lifespan
Whether in an electric car, notebook, or e-bike – batteries today must reliably operate over many thousands of cycles and a long lifespan with minimal capacity loss. Lithium batteries achieve this, unlike their NiCd or lead predecessors, without any problem.Â
Often warranties over 10,000 charge cycles and more
There are lithium batteries whose warranty after 10,000 charge cycles still promises a capacity of 80%. Also the lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars must meet such extreme requirements – there are already many vehicle batteries that have covered 200,000 km and more.
No memory effect with lithium-ion batteries
Unlike NiCd batteries, which after a certain time have to deal with the so-called memory effect and thereby significantly lose capacity, lithium batteries do not have this effect. Li-ion batteries can be charged and discharged frequently without issue, where it is not necessary to charge to 100% nor to fully discharge the capacity – yet they do not lose performance. The absence of a memory effect significantly extends the lifespan.
Lithium-ion batteries have only a low self-discharge
Not every battery-powered device is used daily. For example, when thinking of the battery drill or e-bike in winter, the batteries are not used daily and are then possibly recharged. But for these applications, Li-ion batteries bring a decisive advantage: the low self-discharge.Â
Only about 2% self-discharge per month
With lithium batteries, a self-discharge of less than 2% per month is assumed, while NiCd and NiMH batteries – i.e., older and current battery types – discharge between 10 and 25% per month. Not rarely have such batteries then resulted in the drill being empty just when one wanted to use it again after several months. Lithium batteries, on the other hand, retain almost the entire charge over a very long period.
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