When Are Solid-State Batteries Expected To Be Used In EVs?

With battery technology a core market area for many raw material suppliers and processors, there has naturally been a lot of interest in a battery technology that has been described as the future of high-capacity, safe energy storage.

However, its actual arrival and integration into consumer electronics has always been tantalisingly close but not close enough.

To find out why and when major battery manufacturers expect solid-state batteries to be commercialised, it is important to know why they matter to so many industrial sectors.

What Is A Solid-State Battery?

The solid-state battery works similarly to a traditional rechargeable battery technology such as lithium-ion, but instead of a volatile liquid working as the electrolyte, a solid material or a gel is used instead.

The theory is that a solid electrolyte is innately denser than a liquid one, meaning that batteries can be smaller, have more power, are faster to charge and are not subject to the same volatility concerns that a typical battery has.

All of this is essential for electric vehicles, the biggest and fastest-growing market for electric batteries; as an electric car experiences various different road and environmental conditions, a solid-state battery would provide greater consistency, range and safety.

When Will Solid-State Batteries Be Used?

Whilst there have been a lot of notable research breakthroughs when it comes to solid-state batteries, scaling them up into full-scale production and implementation has been much trickier, and the world’s biggest battery manufacturer has warned people that they may need to wait longer.

CATL has stated that it believes that large-scale deployment of solid-state batteries, which it describes as at least a million EV batteries, will not happen before 2030, limited to cars that cost over 250,000 yuan (roughly £27,500).

At present, CATL has prioritised research into sodium-ion batteries as a way to move away from the rare and volatile metal lithium.