Solid-state batteries have been decades in the making. Can Toyota get them over the finish line?
That’s the question, after the world’s biggest automaker announced it will mass produce the advanced batteries in partnership with Idemitsu Kosan, another Japanese company.
Solid-state batteries could represent a step change in EV performance, industry players say—and for decades they have captured the imaginations of researchers around the world, including in Canada, where Hydro-Québec has been working in the field for decades, and unveiled a first-generation solid-state battery in the 1990s.
The backstory: In recent years, Hydro-Québec announced a project with Mercedes-Benz to develop solid-state batteries, and has worked to commercialize research by John B. Goodenough, known as a godfather of the lithium-ion battery.
Meanwhile, Blue Solutions, a solid-state battery company with bases in France and Quebec, has made progress with its own technology, culminating in a deal this autumn with Foxconn to supply solid-state batteries for two-wheel EVs in Asia.
What’s in it for Toyota: This new partnership is all the more interesting for the company, after new CEO Koji Sato was tasked with stepping up Toyota’s lagging EV efforts. The automaker made headlines last week for its bid to expand its EV manufacturing into Canada, although its future is unclear. While other automakers’ EV plans falter, Toyota is pumping billions into a fresh battery plant in North Carolina.
Automakers hope that replacing the juice in the guts of an EV battery with solids will shorten EV charging times and increase battery range. The ions can move faster through the solids, making the batteries more powerful, said Sato in a presentation last month.
What’s in it for drivers: If Toyota—or other automakers—achieve the needed energy density for their solid-state batteries, it could address major issues facing EVs. Limited driving distance per charge was the top factor Canadians eschewing the switch to electric cited in a J.D. Power survey.
So, what are we waiting for?: Toyota’s Sato expects that the biggest challenge for solid-state batteries will be perfecting a crack-resistant material, but wants to get them to market in 2027 or 2028 and lay the foundation for mass production.
Richard Bouveret of Bolloré, who leads Blue Solutions’s efforts, noted it’s a complex technology that will take time to perfect—it’s a lot of energy being packed into a box that gets jostled around. There are also the challenges of building a cost-competitive supply chain for them.
So should you save up for five years for a state-of-the art, solid-state EV? Like any technology, it depends what you’re using it for, said Bouveret. Those with a short daily commute might already be good candidates for EVs that are already on the market. For others, hanging onto gas-powered vehicles may be better until EVs get faster refuelling times or longer ranges.
“In a few years, the electric battery will be even better … so the choice will be easier,” he said.
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