Why is there so little said about this new technology? Simple. If they told you that this groundbreaking technology was imminent, you might well delay buying one of the conventional battery-powered cars. The new solid-state batteries will triple, at least, the range of the car and they can be charged in as little as ten minutes. I wrote about this last August, but since then there has been a lot of progress.
Listen to the experts
I quoted David Bailey, a professor of business economics at the University of Birmingham He said “If it is a genuine breakthrough, it could be a game-changer, very much the holy grail of battery vehicles.” It’s hard to dispute this. Range anxiety would be a thing of the past. Ten minutes to fully charge the batteries is almost as fast as filling up with petrol or diesel. This also means a much faster flow of vehicles at charging stations; three cars could fully charge in the same time as it currently takes to charge to 80%. Quite literally, this would change everything.
The Chinese will probably be first
It seems that the Chinese car manufacturer Nio could be the first to market. In July last year, Nio announced its solid-state batteries would soon be incorporated into its line of EVs, boasting extended driving ranges, faster charge times, and better overall efficiency for drivers. Although announced in 2021, these solid-state batteries: the first of their kind, will hit markets and have recently been added to the company's user manuals, with the arrival of the 930 km (577+ mile) range option imminent. The car battery specialist WeLion has delivered its first semi-solid-state battery cells to Nio, and new EVs are coming.
The big names won’t be far behind
Other companies, like Toyota, Subaru, and Mazda, are working on incorporating solid-state technology into their fleets: but as of now, Nio is doing it first. Toyota will in all probability be second to market. They made a breakthrough in its development of solid-state batteries. The Japanese car maker reckons it won’t need to compromise on shorter battery life – a typical trade-off – when it puts its new solid-state batteries into mass production in 2027.
Nio don’t have a massive distribution network within Europe, but Toyota do. For sure there is a Toyota garage somewhere nearby. They may well get the first solid-state battery-powered cars into your showroom faster than anyone else. The other major manufacturers won’t want Toyota to dominate the EV market, they will have to get their solid-state models out fast.
The makers that have already announced that they are working on solid-state powered cars are Ford General Motors, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Honda, Nissan, Porsche, Hyundai and Volkswagen. With such revolutionary technology, they can’t be left behind.
The EV battery revolution is not far away
Range anxiety is claimed to be the main reason for people to delay going electric. Add that to the slow charge times and you can see why solid-state batteries will change everything. Not only will they offer two or three times the range but will charge in about ten minutes. These batteries also have a far longer life, its expected that these batteries will last for at least twenty years.
I personally would not rush to buy an EV car, the change will be so dramatic. No wonder the major manufacturers are being very ‘coy’ about the progress they are making. They need to shift the existing technology before the next step into solid state.
Hotcars.com published this graph to illustrate the progress towards solid-state battery integration. According to their (and others) calculations, double, at least, range and a ten-minute charging time is only three to four years away.
If you are thinking of buying an electric-powered vehicle, do your homework before deciding. Patience may well pay off.
Resident in Portugal for 50 years, publishing and writing about Portugal since 1977. Privileged to have seen, firsthand, Portugal progress from a dictatorship (1974) into a stable democracy.
Stopped reading after the bold lettered "Listen to the experts".
LMAO !!
By Hart from Lisbon on 13 Jan 2024, 11:41
EV's are not even selling well anymore, world wide. Rental care fleets, such as Hertz, are returning their leases, 20,000 given back and replaced with petrol engines in the US for 2024. Hertz canceled 40,000 additional on order.
EV's spend a global average of 134 days at the auto seller vs 29 for petrol cars.
Ford has closed two EV plants, GM one, VW just canceled their largest planned EV plant in Hungry.
EV's were a stop gap while we await hydrogen cars, which are coming in a mass wave in 5-6 years. Every big manufacturer has prototypes running around the world. In Japan, most buses are now hydrogen.
The public grew tired of finding charging stations, the wait to get to the charger yourself, the charging time (which is admittedly decreasing), and the poor range (also increasing).
What's also missed is the massive cost of battery replacement, usually somewhere between 110,000 and 160,000 kilometers. Spending 8,000-22,000 Euro is outside the budget of most of the public, certainly in Portugal. So there will be (already happening) a huge influx of super low priced EV's, as they are sold with their run down batteries and nobody will pay a premium for these diminished cars. The original owners simply lease, finance or buy a new car, as they can take that huge battery savings and apply it to a new car.
In ten years the EV will be fading away, in 20 it will be a minor player.
By the way, the EU EV mandates will never be met by their timelines. Flat impossible, simply dreaming.
Mark
By Mark Schmidt from Lisbon on 13 Jan 2024, 15:40
A major obstacle with new EVs, especially ones from non-legacy companies, is service and repair. If your EV works great, you may not have to do anything to it for years. If it has issues (think lemon) or if you get into an accident, you’re SOL. Even Tesla can’t provide reliable service and collision repair to their cars and they’ve been around the longest and should have had it figured out by now. Insurance companies are tired of writing off fender-benders as total losses. With regard to the article, solid state batteries will indeed be a panacea!
By Demetrios Christopher from USA on 14 Jan 2024, 20:58