SES AI

About

SES AI, established in 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts, is a publicly-traded company (NYSE: SES) pioneering hybrid lithium-metal battery technology for electric vehicles and other high-energy applications. With over $500 million in funding and 200-500 employees, SES AI represents a major effort to commercialize next-generation battery chemistry that could dramatically improve electric vehicle range and performance. The company's flagship Apollo lithium-metal battery platform combines lithium metal anodes with advanced liquid electrolytes, achieving significantly higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries while maintaining safety and cycle life. Lithium metal anodes offer theoretical capacity nearly ten times higher than graphite anodes used in traditional lithium-ion batteries, but have historically suffered from dendrite formation—needle-like metallic structures that grow at the nanoscale during charging and can cause short circuits and safety hazards. SES AI has developed proprietary electrolyte formulations and battery architectures that suppress dendrite growth through nanoscale interface engineering and electrochemical stabilization. The company's AI-driven approach leverages machine learning and computational modeling to design and optimize electrolyte compositions, accelerating development cycles that traditionally required years of trial-and-error experimentation. This integration of artificial intelligence with materials science and nanotechnology enables rapid screening of thousands of electrolyte candidates to identify formulations with optimal performance characteristics. SES AI has established partnerships with major automotive manufacturers including General Motors and Hyundai-Kia to develop and scale lithium-metal batteries for electric vehicles. The Apollo platform targets energy densities exceeding 400 Wh/kg, potentially enabling electric vehicles with ranges exceeding 600 miles on a single charge. The technology's nanoscale electrolyte-electrode interfaces are critical to controlling lithium deposition morphology and ensuring stable, safe operation. As the electric vehicle market expands globally, SES AI's lithium-metal battery technology could address key barriers to EV adoption including range anxiety and charging time.