China’s huge battery breakthrough

Dom Tripolone

News Editor

2 min read

Chinese carmaker Chery has debuted a groundbreaking solid-state battery.

Chery showed off a prototype cell with more than double the energy density of conventional batteries at the 2025 Chery Global Innovation Conference, according to reports.

This means it can deliver more than twice the driving range compared to current batteries of the same size.

Read More About Chery

Chery suggests it can theoretically exceed 1500km on a single charge, but a more realistic real world range is 1300km.

The battery has not been fitted to a vehicle but the working prototype is said to have gone through extensive testing.

Solid state batteries are often thought to be crucial to mass electric car adoption by destroying range anxiety.

The futuristic tech is also key to developing electric sports cars, utes and 4WDs are they are lighter and less prone to fire.

Chery said its prototype kept working even after nail penetration and power-drill damage. It also didn’t catch smoke or produce fire.

Solid state batteries were meant to already be fitted to cars but the tech has proved more difficult to develop than many manufacturers thought.

2025 Chery E5.
2025 Chery E5.

Some believe the tech will only be for high-end, low volume vehicles as the production of the batteries would be prohibitively expensive.

Despite the difficulties nearly every major carmaker and battery manufacturer is pursuing the new tech.

Chinese giants Chery, GWM and SAIC are all well advanced in their pursuit of the energy dense cells.

So are BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The two big Germans have actually fitted early working prototype solid-state batteries to vehicles, which no other maker has publicly done yet.

Japanese carmakers Honda, Nissan and Toyota are also investing heavily in the next-gen cells.

Toyota appears to be leading the pack of its compatriots, with the brand confirming early this month it is aiming to launch vehicles with solid state batteries in 2027-2028.

Dom Tripolone

News Editor

Dom was born and raised in Sydney. One of his earliest memories of cars is sitting in the back seat of his dad's BMW 3 Series coupe, which smelled like sawdust. He aspired to be a newspaper journalist from a young age and started his career at the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age working in the Drive section before moving over to News Corp to report on all things motoring across the company's newspapers and digital websites, including news.com.au, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, Courier Mail and Adelaide Advertiser, among others. Dom has embraced the digital revolution and joined CarsGuide as News Editor, where he finds joy in searching out the most interesting and fast-paced news stories on the brands you love. In his spare time Dom can be found being the family Uber driver. Expertise News sourcing and writing Interviewing Family reviews Featured Publications Sydney Morning Herald The Age Drive news.com.au Daily Telegraph Herald Sun Courier Mail Adelaide Advertiser Hobart Mercury CarsGuide Education Bachelor of Arts | Sydney University Diploma in Journalism | Macleay College
About Author

Comments