Lilium and Customcells ramp up battery cell production
Lilium, a developer of the first all-electric eVTOL jet, and Customcells are ramping up battery cell production of Lilium’s high silicon content cells with weekly deliveries from Customcells production line in Tübingen, Germany.
The production line will deliver thousands of cells annually and is on track to meet aviation standards for traceability and process control using a combination of standard cell production processes and a pre-lithiation process for high silicon content cells.
Lilium partners with Ionblox for its exclusive silicon anode cell technology that allows for greater energy and power density combined with high cycle life. Following their partnership announcement back in 2021, Customcells and Lilium are now leveraging a pre-lithiation process that the companies are further industrialising towards volume production. The process inserts additional lithium to compensate for the loss of lithium during the first cycle.
Lilium remains on track to start production of its type-conforming aircraft later this year and plans for a first manned flight of the type-conforming aircraft in the second half of 2024.
This announcement follows recent test results from a third-party independent laboratory – which reported 88% energy retention – well above the targeted 80% target – in Ionblox’s full-size prototype battery cells being developed for the Lilium Jet after 800 charging cycles with 100% depth of discharge (1C/1C cycles).
"The multi-year development collaboration between Lilium and Customcells has been successful: together we have proven the feasibility of mass production of high-performance lithium-ion batteries for eVTOL jets. Now we are automating our production step by step towards large quantities,“ says Dirk Abendroth, CEO Customcells Group in a press release.
