Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Amprius Batteries Boost Energy for Long-endurance Drones
Second-generation SiCore battery cells reach 500 Wh/kg
Rows of cylindrical battery cells on a production line
Cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells move along an automated production line. © Amprius Technologies

Amprius Technologies plans to begin selling a 500 Wh/kg silicon-anode battery cell in the fourth quarter of this year, the first time the company has offered its highest energy density on a cell that outside factories can build with standard lithium-ion equipment.

The second-generation SiCore cell delivers 500 Wh/kg at a 1C continuous discharge rate, Fremont, California-based Amprius said on September 2. That rate suits the slow, sustained draw of high-altitude pseudo-satellites (HAPS) and fixed-wing drones rather than the power-intensive takeoff and climb profiles of larger eVTOL aircraft.

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