Fighting Has Broken Out Over How Long Lithium Metal Can Sit on the Shelf

A new paper has claimed up to a 25% capacity loss

Lithium in its pure extracted state in evaporation ponds at Uyuni Salt Flat, Bolivia. Photo: Pablo Cozzaglio/AFP/Getty

For years, they were the Don Quixotes of the battery world — tinkerers in pure lithium metal romantically seeking to install them in batteries, only to find them catching fire and the answers they thought would fix them a mirage. Then, over the last six…