This graphite-free battery could break China’s grip on the EV supply chain

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August 29, 2026, 9:32 AM

• •Pure Lithium announced on 27 August that its graphite-free lithium metal laboratory cell completed 9,315 cycles with almost no capacity loss.
• •The article says no third party has validated the result and that the energy density of the tested cell was not disclosed.
• •Instead of using graphite as the anode material, the cell deposits lithium metal onto a copper current collector during manufacturing.
• •According to the article, China processes more than 90% of the world’s graphite.
• •The EU lists both natural and synthetic graphite as strategic raw materials and aims to process 40% of its annual needs domestically by 2030.
• •The piece also mentions Talga, Vianode, CarbonX, and LionVolt as companies pursuing European supply or alternative battery approaches.

Pure Lithium says a laboratory lithium metal cell without a graphite anode completed 9,315 charge and discharge cycles with almost no capacity loss. The company’s result has not been independently validated, and the tested cell’s energy density was not disclosed. The article frames the claim against Europe’s effort to reduce dependence on graphite processing dominated by China, which handles more than 90% of global supply. It says the EU wants to process 40% of its own strategic raw materials by 2030 and limit reliance on any single third country to 65%.

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