Not so. Several places have had cells in real world testing this year. They are being tested now, in different formats like coin batteries , what I call pouch types or blades, single cells in a flat format, as well as wrapped versions like in the 18650 and the 4680 are all currently being tested. Some like the coin cells have been in testing since 2015 doing cycle life tests. As far as I am aware, all the companies involved in the research have solved the dendrite problem in the battery. It's now about the power density and converting the prototype into a consistent production process, which has already happened in the case for the USA concern. I have asked for a prototype to test, but being in NZ, don't qualify to be part of the tester group. End of next year Cars will be sold with this battery technology inn them, not sure of the range exactly , but will be quite substantial. The biggest push for the technology is actually coming from very large earth moving machines, and making them into fully electric, instead of diesel electric. So they will have energy recovery systems in them etc to extend the working the life. Yes, they will be recharging from a diesel generator when they do recharge. But will pay for itself from the current servicing costs that these very large machine have. The break through is the 3 electrons per ion transferring instead of 1 electron per ion like the current battery technology. The Al-ion batteries are about the same as the best Li technology for CE , with the difference being that the 1% fading is not until 10k cycles compared to the 500 to 1k cycles for Li technology. So just have to wait and see where the price point is going to be for the cells used. Ryobi has already started using a different cell format technology in their latest Li batteries, and I would not be surprised if they would be one of the early adaptors of the new battery tech. Li won't be dumped, but I can see that once the new Al batteries become cost effective, the li ones will just finish due to being too expensive for the lifespan. The current Al ion batteries are all interchangeable with the the Li chargers and cell formats so far. So could in theory just be swapped out and will still work and charge like the Li cells do. Circuit upgrades will be required for the faster charging rates etc. Truly is exciting times. Even at double the current capacity with a short charge time is a game changer for the building industry for example. Lighter batteries for 10A/h capacity.
