WeLion New Energy is on a quest to make safer, better batteries. The company’s semi-solid-state cells could improve safety and offer greater energy density than lithium-ion batteries to power electric cars, boats, and drones.

From the EVs that carry commuters home to the ships that transport goods across countries, more and more vehicles around us are powered by batteries. 

Lithium-ion batteries are commonly used to power personal devices and vehicles today. But as the need for batteries surges, there’s a growing appetite for cells that can store more energy on a single charge.

Also, in lithium-based batteries the electrolyte, which facilitates ion transfer, uses a flammable liquid that can create a fire hazard. 

Several companies, including WeLion New Energy, are working to make solid-state cells, which use a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid one. This could increase the energy density of batteries, as well as improve their safety. Fully solid-state cells are extremely difficult to manufacture, though. So WeLion currently focuses on developing and producing semi-solid-state cells, which have a part-liquid, part-solid electrolyte. 

On that front, they have made steady progress. In 2023, WeLion released a battery pack in partnership with Shanghai-based EV-maker Nio, best known for its battery-swapping technology. The pack had an energy density of 360 watt-hours per kilogram (wh/kg), significantly higher than the 200 wh/kg average for lithium-ion packs today. That translated to a range of over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). However, only about 200 of the battery packs were manufactured due to their high production cost, but they are still being used by Nio, WeLion says. 

WeLion has also built batteries to power cargo ships and ferries through a subsidiary. And the company is developing batteries with even higher energy density too. WeLion’s engineers made a semi-solid-state battery that achieved a remarkable energy density of 824 wh/kg during testing in 2025, more than three times that of a standard lithium-ion battery available today. 

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Key indicators

• Industry: Energy storage
• Founded: 2016
• Headquarters: Beijing, China
• Notable fact: WeLion’s cofounders include Chen Liquan, a scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who led the development of the country’s first all-solid-state battery back in 1988.

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Potential for impact

China emits more carbon dioxide than any other country, and its transportation sector accounts for around 10% of that total. Scaling up the production of safer, higher-capacity batteries could help switch more vehicles away from fossil fuels. 

Batteries that power electric ships could be especially helpful—the carbon dioxide emissions from vessels that move goods along China’s lakes, canals, and rivers are projected to grow by around 25% in this decade alone, reaching 18.7 million metric tons by 2030. 

Caveats 

One big challenge WeLion faces is scaling up production of its semi-solid-state batteries and competing on cost in a crowded battery market. WeLion says that its semi-solid-state batteries are more expensive than conventional lithium-ion batteries made by larger Chinese battery companies such as CATL. 

And while laboratory tests showing high energy density are impressive, it can be difficult to translate laboratory results to the real world. The company declined to give more details about the experimental results from its 2025 prototype, which it says is far from commercialization. Key details remain unclear, including how many times the cell can be charged and discharged and how capacity degrades over its lifetime.  

Next steps 

WeLion plans to bring a new semi-solid-state battery for drones to market with an energy density of 410 wh/kg by the end of this year. It also intends to introduce its first all-solid-state battery for cars in 2027, which is expected to have an energy density of 400 wh/kg. 

Two inland cargo ships powered by WeLion’s batteries are expected to launch in October 2026 in Huzhou, a city in eastern China. The battery pack of each of these ships will be able to carry nearly 4,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough for them to sail for up to 250 kilometers (155 miles), the company says.

Today, WeLion has an annual manufacturing capacity of 11 gigawatt-hours (GWh) spread between four production bases in China. Two additional plants with a combined yearly capacity of 18 GWh are under construction.

Humanoid robots are having a moment in China. The popular machines are part of the country’s strategy to bring artificial intelligence into daily life. Embedding the technology into physical systems—an idea called embodied AI—was a key facet of China’s latest five-year plan, and companies here are already world leaders in humanoids. Nearly 90% of the more than 13,000 two-armed, two-legged robots delivered globally last year were made in China.    

“Look, it is trying to do a handstand!” an 11-year-old boy shouts excitedly while watching his new mini robotic dog attempt a series of stunts. The toy pet is a gift his mom just bought him at a robot “carnival” held by an R&D center on the outskirts of Shanghai, and he can’t stop showing it off to passersby. It’s a public holiday, and curious families are pouring in to the event to see what’s on display. 

This busy hub houses more than 100 companies that research, develop, manufacture, and market robotic technologies and equipment. Many build specialized bots of all shapes that can do practical tasks, such as transporting heavy loads or inspecting sewage pipes. 

Today, however, things are mostly for show. Meters away from where parents and children are queued up to buy the robotic dog, two staffers teach youngsters how to make a quadrupedal robot walk up a flight of stairs. Farther along, a tense battle breaks out between two remote-controlled robots firing water beads at each other, as boys and girls cheer them on from around a temporary ring. (A staffer declares the duel a draw.)

Showcases like this are important, because they invite the public to experience robots up close. Some of China’s most prominent robotics companies are building humanoids. These machines “can free people from physical work and mundane chores,” says Yang Duan, a product manager at DexForce, which is at the carnival exhibiting a model that can make coffee. A few booths down, a pair of robotic arms attempts to fold a basket of T-shirts. 

Robots in many forms—including humanoid ones—entertained the public and demonstrated their skills.

Exposure matters, because elsewhere humanoids’ progress has been slow, marred by safety challenges due to their heft and need to balance on two legs. High prices and short battery life have also limited their appeal. Plenty of roboticists are skeptical that a human form is the best shape for a robot to take.

But Chinese firms are pushing forward and showing off their latest models. As this carnival takes place in Shanghai, shopping malls and tourist attractions in several other Chinese cities host humanoids that perform for crowds. In Beijing, bipedal robots are running half-marathons. The PR campaign seems to be winning over hearts and minds—at least on this particular weekend in Shanghai. 

Applause rings out from the festival’s main tent. There, a humanoid wearing a blinged-out top is showing off a martial arts style known as drunken boxing as a fellow humanoid performs a front flip to woo the crowd. Alongside the stage, a squad of small robotic lions are lined up waiting to perform. 

The audience can’t get enough. They chant: “More, more, more.” 

You Xiaoying is a London-based freelance journalist focusing on China.