Toyota will put pure electric vehicles (EVs) equipped with “all-solid-state batteries” on the market as early as 2027. All-solid-state batteries are seen as a strong candidate for a new generation of batteries that can travel about 1,200 kilometers on a charge in less than 10 minutes and extend the range to 2.4 times that of existing EVs, extending the battery life that was once a weakness. In the future, technology development will be intensified with the goal of achieving mass production. If it becomes practical, it could potentially rewrite the power map of the EV market.
Toyota outlined its approach during a recent technical presentation at its research base in Shizuoka Prefecture. It is reported that the durability of all-solid-state batteries has been overcome, and Toyota has given the specific practical time of 2027 to 2028, saying that the goal is to equip it on EV. Hiroki Nakajima, vice president of CTO (Chief Technology Officer), said, “We have found good materials. It will not lag behind The Times and will be put into practical use.”
In general, the all-solid-state battery and EV mainstream liquid lithium-ion battery is different, the electrolyte is solid, characterized by short charging time, can extend the driving distance. The solid electrolyte and the solid electrode must be close together and cannot be separated. Charge and discharge cause the electrode to expand and shrink repeatedly, the electrolyte and the electrode will be separated, resulting in unusable. Previously, it could only charge and discharge dozens to hundreds of times, which could not reach the thousands of times required for practical application.
Toyota is a leader in the research and development of all-solid-state batteries, with more than 1,000 related patents. In the summer of 2020, for the first time in the world, vehicles equipped with all-solid-state batteries received license plates and conducted driving tests. The goal was to be fitted with a hybrid vehicle (HV) in the first half of the 2020s. Toyota will push the development further and also intends to extend the range to about 1,500 kilometers in the future with the same charging time of less than 10 minutes.
The performance of an EV is largely determined by the battery. Currently, the charging time and driving distance on a single charge are not as good as gasoline and hybrid cars. Toyota’s current EV “bZ4X” uses lithium-ion batteries that take about 30 minutes to charge and have a range of about 600 kilometers. Nissan’s “ARIYA” can travel 380 kilometers on a 45-minute charge, while Tesla’s “Model Y” can travel 260 kilometers on a 15-minute charge.
In order to popularize all-solid-state batteries, the key in the future is to develop a mass production process. Technology needs to be developed to reduce manufacturing costs. According to the Japan Science and Technology Agency estimates, the manufacturing cost of all-solid-state batteries (sulfides) is 60,000 to 350,000 yen per kilowatt-hour, which is 4 to 25 times higher than existing lithium-ion batteries (14,000 yen).
Kobayashi Hiroshinori, director of overall research at the Japanese Industrial Technology Research Institute, believes that in the initial stage of practical application of car manufacturers, “it is likely to be equipped only on some models such as high-end cars.”
All-solid-state batteries, as the next generation of new products for lithium-ion batteries, have attracted much attention, and companies are promoting research and development. Research firm Fujifilm Economics (Tokyo Chuo ward) believes that the all-solid-state battery market will expand to 3.8605 trillion yen by 2040.
Nissan has proposed a plan to bring an EV equipped with a self-developed all-solid-state battery to market by 2028. By 2024, a pilot production line will be set up at the Yokohama plant to verify materials, design and manufacturing processes. Germany’s BMW plans to unveil demonstration vehicles equipped with all-solid-state batteries by 2025 and mass produce them by 2030.
The trend toward electric vehicles is becoming more and more evident around the world, and Toyota will accelerate EV development by making all-solid-state batteries practical. Toyota has proposed to expand the EV, although the world sales in 2022 will only be about 20,000 units, but Toyota has proposed to achieve annual sales of 1.5 million units by 2026 and 3.5 million units by 2030.
In addition to all-solid-state batteries, Toyota will also improve the performance of existing liquified lithium-ion batteries. Plans to launch a new generation of products in 2026, charging 20 minutes, can travel about 1000km, the range is the current EV “bZ4X” twice. If EVs equipped with all-solid-state batteries are introduced in 2027-2028, models equipped with multiple batteries will be available by 2030.
Source: Nikkei Chinese