'Serious consequences': New battery exposed

The hype surrounding solid-state batteries is extreme, but some experts in China are pouring cold water on the new breakthrough tech.

Solid-state batteries have been touted as the answer to all our electric car problems, being more energy dense, safer and lighter than current cells, but reality is likely much different.

According to Chinese online publication Sina, an industry expert stated: “A runaway liquid battery might be like a small firecracker — frightening but with limited destructive power. A runaway solid-state battery, if it crosses safety boundaries, could be like a large firecracker, with far more serious consequences."

Read More About Chery

• Holy grail EV tech hype bubble bursting
• Electric car disaster! Why the much hyped solid-state battery might not cure all electric car problems and why it won't find its way into affordable EVs such as the 2026 Tesla Model Y, BYD Sealion 7 and Kia EV5
• China’s game-changing battery breakthrough

Various professors from Chinese universities have said achieving absolute safety for any battery is near impossible.

Assistant Professor at the School of Vehicle and Transportation at Tsinghua University Ren Dongsheng stated: "After all, a solid-state battery is an energy-containing material, and achieving absolute safety is very difficult."

Wuhan University professor Ai Xinping said according to Sina: "I want to tell the academic and industrial communities that a solid-state battery is an energy source and may not be safe; we shouldn't set our expectations too high.”

The general consensus is that solid-state batteries are less prone to fire, but if something does go wrong they can be much more catastrophic than current battery fires.

This could be contributing to the delay in bringing the futuristic tech to market. Many carmakers expected solid-state batteries to be a feature in electric vehicles by now, but most have pushed back their deadlines or expressed concern they may never be the saviour to electric vehicles they once thought.

Carmakers — and battery companies — have been pouring money into developing solid-state cells.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz have had working prototypes in vehicles on the road, but these batteries are well below the energy density of what has been promised.

Chinese giants Chery, GWM and SAIC — the latter owns MG — have all committed to bringing solid-state batteries to market soon, but no prototypes have been spotted on the road.

Honda, Nissan and Toyota are also competing to bring them to market first, as are VW and Kia and Hyundai.

Audi engineers have previously told CarsGuide, they thought solid-state batteries will only be for niche, high-end vehicles as they will be so hard to manufacture at scale.

A senior Toyota executive has also said there is no guarantee the company will succeed in producing the batteries.

“...development is always unpredictable. Frankly, there’s no telling if it will work out or not,” said Toyota Executive Vice President Hiroki Nakajima.

"I always take encouragement from Chairman Toyoda’s reminder that, ‘It’s okay to fail’.”

Kia too has expressed concern, stating it wouldn’t expect the batteries this decade.

Hyundai Group's head of global product planning Spencer Cho told US publication Automotive News earlier this year the technology is more complex than many realise.

“I don’t think we can commercialise these batteries before 2030,” said Cho.

“There is a lot of uncertainty about the progress of solid-state batteries,” he said.

Chinese brand Changan — which sells vehicles in Australia under the Deepal brand and has co-created Mazda’s newest EV the Mazda 6e — believes solid-state batteries won’t be a reality until maybe even 2035.