ANNUAL REPORT 2011 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT - Saft

What vision
for lithium-ion?
ANNE DE GUIBERT
RESEARCH DIRECTOR
The lithium-ion battery first came on the market in the early
1990s. In its first year on the market, 13 million Li-ion batteries
were sold. Today, that figure is around two billion.
Such growth is a consequence of its performance (it has
the highest specific energy of all batteries) and long life,
but also the wide variety of applications for the technology.
These include satellites, where Saft played a pioneering role,
smart meters, electric vehicles and renewable energy storage,
where Li-ion is highly suited to frequency regulation. Its flexibility
in terms of power and energy means that Li-ion can be
developed for new applications in the stand-by power,
rail transport and aviation markets for example.
Industrial Li-ion is still in its infancy in battery development terms.
Saft is currently working on the next generations, to improve
performance, extend life, lower costs, and improve the operating
life cycle of Li-ion. This involves researching new materials,
technologies and algorithms to optimise battery utilisation.