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Successful test flights set to power Li-S Energy’s lithium-sulfur battery take-off
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- Li-S Energy has successfully completed its first uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) test flights, powered by a 12-cell lithium sulfur battery pack
- Tests demonstrated the company’s lithium sulfur cells can be configured into a battery pack, integrated into a fixed-wing UAV and successfully flown and landed
- Li-S Energy is focused on markets including drones, eAviation, security and defence, which value lighter cell weight, extended range and longer flight times
Special Report: Li-S Energy has lifted confidence in its commercial potential by successfully completing the first drone test flights powered by one of its 12-cell lithium sulfur battery packs.
The battery-tech startup is focused on high-growth target markets of uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAVs) or drones, e-aviation, security and defence.
In all those applications the reduced cell weight, extended range and longer flight times Li-S Energy (ASX:LIS) batteries can provide are highly valued.
That means the latest test flights are a significant achievement as they clearly demonstrate that LIS’s energy dense lithium sulfur cells can be configured into a battery pack, integrated into a fixed-wing UAV, then successfully used in a typical flight with take-off, ascent, level flight, aerial manoeuvres and safe landing.
The Li-S Energy team manufactured the 6S2P battery pack using 12 10Ah lithium sulfur (Li-S) cells on its state of the art Phase 3 production line in Geelong.
The nominal pack voltage was 11.4V, with capacity of 20Ah and weight of only 550 grams at a pack level. The pack was then integrated into the fixed-wing, single-motor UAV with a 2.4-metre wingspan.
Test flights were carried out using both catapult launch and hand-launch methods, with each flight completed successfully.
While LIS said the flights were not an endurance test, the total flight time was 30 minutes completed with a single battery pack with no intermediate recharge and the battery pack was only partially discharged at the end of the tests.
Importantly, on return to the LIS facility, the battery pack recharged successfully.
Growth market applications
The test flights follow last month’s globally significant breakthrough for its unique lithium sulfur cell chemistry.
LIS shares soared almost 117 per cent in the two days after the announcement.
They’ve since pulled back but the current price of 20 cents is still up almost 67 per cent on where it was before news broke of the company’s batteries achieving its eye-opening lithium-sulfur battery cell performance results.
LIS CEO Dr Lee Finniear said: “Last month, we announced that we had achieved cell energy density of more than 450Wh/kg on our new lithium sulfur cells.
“This month we are demonstrating our cells in a full battery pack, successfully powering an uncrewed aircraft in flight profiles typically required by our target markets.
“This is an outstanding achievement by the entire Li-S Energy team. It accelerates us toward the integrated battery pack needed for our ‘dawn-‘til-dusk’ drone program, and clearly demonstrates to our target markets that Li-S Energy is a credible power delivery solution for drone, eAviation, and security applications.”
CTO Dr Steve Rowlands was also pleased with the results of this first demonstration of LIS’s GEN3 cells at a pack level.
“The cell parameters from our production line are very consistent which, when combined with our semi-solid-state chemistry, means that balancing the cells in the pack has been far less complex than with traditional lithium sulfur chemistries,” Dr Rowlands said.
“Whilst we are still engaged in production development and expect to continue to improve our cell performance over time, this is a milestone achievement to show how our technology can be integrated successfully into a UAV.”
LIS expects to continue to use the current UAV platform to test pack level performance in practical scenarios. This will include flight duration testing which will feed into the ‘dawn-‘til-dusk’ drone development as well as into other partner programs.
This article was developed in collaboration with Li-S Energy, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
