Superbatteries will transform the performance of EVs

livemint.com:

modern electric vehicles (EVs) with more advanced “solid-state" versions. These new types of superbatteries have long promised faster charging and much greater driving range. Finally, after years of technical problems, efforts to make them are coming to fruition, with the first solid-state Li-ion batteries due to go into production within the next few years.

Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, began looking at solid-state batteries in 2012. Over the years it has even intended to show off working prototypes, although little has appeared. The firm recently announced it had made a “technological breakthrough", however, with plans to start manufacturing a solid-state battery as early as 2027.

Toyota claims its new battery will provide an EV with a range of around 1,200km (746 miles), which is about twice that of many existing models, and can be recharged in around ten minutes. Toyota is not alone. Similar performance figures are being touted by other producers developing solid-state Li-ion batteries.

Nissan, for instance, is building a pilot plant in Yokohama that will start making test versions next year. A similar plant is planned in Germany by BMW in partnership with Solid Power, a battery developer based in Colorado. QuantumScape, a Silicon Valley startup, has started shipping prototype solid-state batteries to Volkswagen, its main backer.

It is, perhaps, hardly surprising that developing a solid-state battery has taken so long. Getting a new type of battery to work in a laboratory is one thing, but scaling it up so that millions can be produced in a factory is a difficult business. Although they were invented in the late 1970s, Li-ion batteries themselves were not fully commercialised until the early 1990s, at first