Lithium-ion

or: a Nobel Prize that still dies at 14%

In the 1970s a chemist built a rechargeable battery around lithium and got just over two volts, but the lithium metal was so reactive the thing was too explosive to sell¹. A second scientist swapped in cobalt oxide and pushed it to four volts in 1980, a third replaced the touchy metal with a kind of petroleum coke in 1985, and in 2019 all three shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry². Since the first ones went on sale in 1991, the price has fallen more than 99%³.

And we use it so a phone can die at 14% anyway.

How it works, badly

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The first lithium battery worked, and also kind of exploded.
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Two more scientists tamed it, and all three got a Nobel.
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Then they got more than 99% cheaper.
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Then the phone dies at 14% anyway.

Wait, is that real?

Yes, the battery in your phone won a Nobel Prize.

The first try↩

During the oil crisis of the 1970s, Stanley Whittingham built a lithium battery with a titanium disulphide cathode that reached just over two volts. But metallic lithium is reactive, and the battery was too explosive to be viable.

The Nobel↩

In 1980, John Goodenough showed that cobalt oxide with lithium ions could produce as much as four volts. In 1985, Akira Yoshino made the first commercially viable lithium-ion battery by using petroleum coke instead of lithium metal in the anode. The three shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and lithium-ion batteries first went on sale in 1991.

The price↩

Our World in Data puts lithium-ion cells at about $9,210 per kilowatt-hour in 1991 and about $78 in 2024, in constant 2024 dollars: a drop of more than 99%.

Why your phone dies early↩

Apple says all rechargeable batteries are consumable parts that become less effective as they chemically age, and that unexpected shutdowns are more likely when the battery is low, chemically older, or cold. iPhone 15 batteries are designed to keep 80 percent of their original capacity after 1,000 full charge cycles under ideal conditions; iPhone 14 and earlier, after 500.

The fine print↩

The percentage on your screen is an estimate, and an old or cold battery can’t always deliver the power the phone asks for, so it shuts down early; 14% is just a number we picked. Lithium-ion batteries can still catch fire when damaged or overheated, so treat a swollen one with respect. The 99% figure is for battery cells; finished products cost more.

Sources: ScienceDaily: Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019; Our World in Data: battery prices fell more than 99%; Apple: iPhone battery and performance

Last fact-checked October 28, 2026.