LIthium Battery Updates--Solid Li Batteries Are Not Coming Soon
One of the great hopes for BEV development has been solid-state / Lithium-metal batteries. No goo in the electrolyte, ~double the energy density of Li-ion batteries and faster charging to finally end the BEV range discussion. Looks like this is still in the future. MotorTrend has a summary of current development activity at a variety of battery and car companies. Here's a sampling, many more at the link: https://www.motortrend.com/features/solid-state-batteries-future-cars
... perhaps the industry's biggest shift during the past two years is that the race has become less "solid-state versus liquid-electrolyte lithium-ion" and more "semi-solid first, all-solid later." This effectively delays resolution of the toughest challenges-like how to keep a solid electrolyte/separator in sufficiently intimate contact with the electrodes to work properly (which often requires high pressure). Today, semi-solid architectures are already bringing significant benefits to vehicles, while pure ceramic/sulfide lithium-metal batteries (which claim the wildest range/recharging stats) remain years away. Here's a roundup of the leaders:
Battery-swapping Chinese automaker Nio produced 150-kWh WELION semi-solid-state packs boasting 260-Wh/kg energy density in 2024. The idea was for owners to rent these packs for long trips, but low demand halted production after a few hundred were produced.
China's SAIC teamed with battery supplier QingTao Energy to produce a semi-solid-state pack for IM Motors' L6 Lightyear Max. Its 130-kWh pack is rated for 621 miles of (CLTC) range, recharging 249 miles' worth in 12 minutes at 400 kW.
Toyota is working with Idemitsu Kosan to develop an all-solid-state cell using an undisclosed high-energy cathode, a sulfide solid electrolyte, and an undisclosed (likely lithium) anode. A pilot electrolyte plant is under construction, and the supply chain is being built.
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Samsung SDI is working with BMW and others on a reportedly oxide-based all-solid-state anodeless/lithium-metal design with a high-nickel cathode. A pilot production line is running, with production gearing up for an announced target of 2027 mass production.VW Group's PowerCo has teamed with QuantumScape to develop a novel cell design using a pure copper current collector that plates lithium metal during its first charging cycle, a solid ceramic separator that prevents dendrite growth from the anode, and a liquid catholyte that maintains contact with the cathode particles under roughly 50 psi of stack pressure. It's been demonstrated in a Ducati motorcycle, and manufacturing license agreements are signed.
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I'm sticking with my older ICE cars for now. As well as quick fill-ups, they are also pre-touch screen and much of the other recent slop (IMO) that has been added to basic transportation.
There are hints that some car companies are coming to their senses and going back to actual knobs and buttons, after realizing that a touch screen is not the right user interface for a moving vehicle. If that continues, I might be in the market for a new car again (the last new car I bought was in 1992).
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