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Published — 18 August 2026 ⏭ Undecided

Why The Biggest Battery Company Is Betting On Lithium Air

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Why The Biggest Battery Company Is Betting On Lithium Air. Subscribe to IEEE Spectrum Magazine and get 20% off: https://spectrum.ieee.org/undecided And check out @ieeespectrum on Youtube. CATL, the world's biggest battery maker, just named its bet for what comes after solid-state batteries: lithium air. Headlines claim this battery stores as much energy as gasoline. This lithium air battery breathes, pulling oxygen straight from the surrounding air instead of packing in heavy metal cathodes. Scientists say the design could push EVs past 1,000 miles on a single charge, and a startup is already chasing it for drones and aircraft. So is this air-breathing battery actually as close to gasoline-level energy as CATL claims? Or is that number just a headline that outran the lab?

Edit: we're aware there's a slight issue with the audio, we're taking a look at the cause and apologize for the inconvenience!

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Chapters
00:00 - Intro
02:49 - The Battery That Breathes
06:34 - The Hype Check
07:37 - The Two Tricks For Four Electrons
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