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The rush to be the first to develop a solid-state battery for electric vehicles has turned into a planet-wide race.
Car companies and scientists are closing in on what is the holy grail of the EV world with the promise of driving ranges and charging times we can barely conceive today.
Solid-state batteries use an electrolyte that is hard or solid and not a liquid or a gel which is found in the lithium-ion batteries used in most electric car batteries currently. It’s expected that the first solid-state batteries will be able to provide a range of about 1000km and charge within 10 minutes.
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Short ranges and long charging times are two of the biggest disadvantages of many current electric cars. It's easy to see why solid state batteries would be embraced.
The problem is solid-state batteries are complex and expensive to manufacture, but the reward for finding a way to make them cheaply and easily would be enormous.
But who will be first to come up with a production-ready solid-state battery? With new developments in the past fortnight, here is who is currently in the lead.
Samsung
Technology giant Samsung announced recently that it had made a major breakthrough in its solid-state battery quest with the unique twist being the use of silver. Samsung is reportedly investigating using silver-carbon (AG-C) composite anodes due to its ability to lengthen the life-span of a battery and reduce overheating.
Toyota
Toyota may not have many electric cars for sale currently but don’t think it’s out of the EV race. Toyota is the world’s number one carmaker and it helped make electrified cars mainstream with the Prius hybrid back in 1997.
Behind the scenes Toyota is working feverishly and spending up big on researching solid-state technology. Last year Toyota announced it had made a breakthrough in solid-state battery durability and said: “We are currently developing a method for mass production, striving for commercialisation in 2027-2028."
Nissan
Nissan might not have any full EVs on sale in Australia now, but it was an EV pioneer with the original Leaf hatchback. Nissan is also focussed on cracking the solid-state riddle and it could be first to do so with the company saying in May this year that it will start testing in 2026.
Nissan says it has been focused on solid-state batteries since 2018 and will have its first production car showcasing the new-gen solid-state battery in 2028. They kept that quiet, didn't they?
GWM
Chinese car giant Great Wall Motors (GWM) revealed to its shareholders at its annual general meeting in May that it now has the ability to make small capacity solid-state batteries and that the next stage involves scaling up the size for cars.
Volkswagen
As another of the world's biggest car companies you’d expect Volkswagen to get in on the solid-state battery act and it absolutely has done so. Last month Volkswagen’s subsidiary PowerCo went into partnership with solid-state battery manufacturer QuantumScape. According to QuantumScape the batteries it’s developing will have a lifespan of 500,000km before any noticeable loss of range.
These are five of the biggest players in the solid-state battery race right now, but it's not over yet. We’ll keep you up to date on any new developments.
