Abstract
Abstract
The costs of manufacturing lithium metal anodes (LMAs) are uncertain but critical to the commercial feasibility of lithium metal batteries and subsequent next-generation energy storage technologies. This study models the technoeconomics of LMA production using extrusion rolling and thermal evaporation across LMA thicknesses and production scales. Thermal evaporation produces lower-cost LMAs below a crossover thickness of 24.2 μm (18.4–34.1 μm with uncertainty), while extrusion rolling is cheaper at greater thicknesses. Manufacturing costs decrease by 94 to 97% as production scales from pilot to Giga operations for both technologies. Integrating manufacturing costs with cell-level performance demonstrates that technology and thickness selection should consider the impacts of manufacturing cost, cycle life, and specific energy on application-specific lifecycle costs. Sensitivity analysis of the manufacturing technologies further reveals differing vulnerabilities to Li metal prices, equipment costs, and labor rates, highlighting the importance strategically informed manufacturing decisions to advance next-gen battery deployment.