# Electric Aircraft Batteries Lilium Announced its Working with Ionblox on its eVTOL Battery By Colin Smith | Published 2023-02-13 | Autos Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ionblox References: [newatlas](https://newatlas.com/aircraft/lilium-ionblox-evtol-batteries/) & [ionblox](https://www.ionblox.com/)  Lilium, an aviation company, is developing an [eVTOL](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/valo-evtol) (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft with a battery supplied by Ionblox, previously known as Zenlabs. The eVTOL will act like a kind of electric air minibus for regional flights. The aircraft has a unique design that utilizes tiny, ducted electric "jets" instead of exposed propellers. However, this design places a unique strain on the aircraft's batteries. To handle the kind of long-range flights Lilium needs to perform, the battery will need to have high specific energy, as well as a high power density to handle high-output VTOL flight phases. The battery will also need to be capable of high power outputs even at a low state of charge. To address this, Lilium has invested millions into a company called Ionblox which has developed a battery with a silicon-dominant anode instead of the conventional graphite anode. The battery is capable of high charge/discharge rates and a solid 25% increase in specific energy compared to [Tesla](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/qilin) [Model 3](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/energydense-lithium-batteries) batteries. The power density of Ionblox's battery can handle 3.8 kW per kilogram and still maintain a high output even at a low state of charge. The company has also tested its battery for longevity, finding that it still has more than 80% of its capacity after being charged and discharged 1,000 times. Image Credit: Lilium ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 5.5/10 - Popularity: 75% | Activity: 75% | Freshness: 14% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Autos](https://www.trendhunter.com/autos) ## Key Themes ### What's Driving This Trend - **Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft (evtol) Batteries:** Developing high-performance batteries that can handle the unique strains of eVTOL aircraft design like high specific energy and power density could be a disruptive innovation opportunity. - **Silicon-dominant Anode Batteries:** Using silicon-dominant anodes instead of conventional graphite anodes in batteries could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for increasing specific energy and charge/discharge rates. - **High Power Density Batteries:** Developing batteries that can maintain high output even at a low state of charge could be a disruptive innovation opportunity, especially for vehicles like eVTOL aircraft with high-output phases. ### Who This Affects Most - **Aviation:** Developing batteries that can handle the unique strains of eVTOL aircraft design could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for the aviation industry. - **Battery Technology:** Using silicon-dominant anodes and innovative battery designs to increase specific energy, charge/discharge rates, and power density could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for the battery technology industry. - **Transportation:** Developing high-output batteries that perform well even at low states of charge could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for the transportation industry, especially for electric vehicles and aircraft. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Aviation-Grade Condensed Batteries](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/condensed-battery.md) - [Electric Urban Flights](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/valo-evtol.md) - [Emissions-Free eVTOL Aircraft](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/emissionsfree-evtol-aircraft.md) - [Decarbonizing Demonstrator Aircraft](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/demonstrator-aircraft.md) - [Epochal Electric VTOLs](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/epochal-electric-vtol.md) - [Lithium-Ion EV Batteries](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/britishvolt.md) - [High-Density Battery Technologies](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/energydense-lithium-batteries.md) - [VTOL Air Taxi Prototypes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/air-taxi-prototype.md) - [All-Electric Passenger Aircrafts](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/joby-aviation-inc.md)