Next-generation lithium batteries: Economics

Why there is still no price for any of them

There is no market price or levelised cost for any of these chemistries. Early costs are expected to be well above today's lithium-ion, which averaged USD 108/kWh per pack in 2025.

Capex versus opex

The IEA says all-solid-state manufacturing is more complex and costly than lithium-ion and that early costs will be high, without giving a figure. The benchmark they must beat is falling fast: average lithium-ion packs reached USD 108/kWh in 2025 and LFP USD 81/kWh.¹⁶

Levelised cost of storage

No LCOS exists for any of these technologies, because none has a stationary product with field data. Given high early cost and uncertain cycle life, they are unlikely to compete on LCOS with LFP in grid storage within a decade.¹

Revenue stack and market participation

Value will come from premium cars, robots, drones and possibly electric aircraft, where buyers pay for lighter or safer packs. Grid revenue streams such as arbitrage and frequency response are already served cheaply by LFP. Toyota plans its first all-solid-state car by 2028, and BYD plans sales from 2027 with mass production in 2030. Lithium-sulphur developers target drones, defence and aviation, where weight matters most; Lyten announced in 2024 a plan to invest over USD 1 billion in a Nevada plant of up to 10 GWh a year, with Phase 1 targeted for 2027, and in February 2026 completed its purchase of Northvolt's Swedish sites, which will make lithium-ion NMC cells while lithium-sulphur stays a future ambition.¹¹¹¹²

Sources

1. Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric vehicle batteries International Energy Agency, 2026
2. Lithium-Ion Battery Pack Prices Fall to $108 per Kilowatt-Hour, Despite Rising Metal Prices BloombergNEF, 2025
3. Lyten plans first lithium-sulfur battery gigafactory in Nevada ESS News, 2024
4. Lyten completes Northvolt acquisition, set to manufacture lithium-sulfur batteries at gigascale and kickstart R&D in Sweden ESS News, 2026