Buy a tram and wait, solid-state batteries are mass-produced, there is a letter!

The reason why you haven't bought an electric car yet, is it range anxiety, or battery safety? Either way, solid-state batteries can be a good solution. Therefore, at present, everyone is paying special attention to the solid-state battery that the company has been laying for so long, when will it be on the car?

The latest news is here!

A few days ago, Aion announced that it will advance the release of self-developed and self-produced all-solid-state batteries to 2026. Coincidentally, CATL has also accelerated the pace of research and development, and plans to achieve mass production after 2027. This means that perhaps the average consumer will be able to buy an electric car equipped with a solid-state battery in 2027.

What are the challenges in mass production of solid-state batteries?

Solid-state batteries are better than liquid lithium-ion batteries in terms of energy density, safety and service life, and their energy density is more than 300Wh/kg, which is almost the ceiling of the energy density of liquid lithium batteries. It can be said that with the use of solid-state batteries, electric cars can be as light as gasoline vehicles, and they can also achieve a longer single range. Therefore, it is known as the final form of power batteries. Many friends who have reservations about the current new energy vehicles said that they will consider choosing new energy vehicles only after the mass production and installation of solid-state batteries.

Of course, solid-state batteries also bring a lot of material issues and technical problems, such as immature technology, small solid electrolyte barrier, etc., which limit the industrialization of solid-state batteries.

The first is the issue of materials, and the biggest challenge is the electrolyte. Since the electrolyte is in solid-state form, it limits the mobility of the charge through the material and reduces the functionality of the battery, so it needs to be "driven" by a higher voltage, which also leads to a new problem: higher voltages may degrade the solid-state electrolyte more quickly, thus reducing the number of charge cycles, which means that the current technology uses solid-state batteries, which either reduces power or shortens the service life.

In addition, all-solid-state batteries can have a smaller size and lighter weight with the same energy. Among them, the influence of external size on the internal material is relatively large, taking the most popular ceramic material as an example, because it cannot be bent, it cannot be manufactured into a cylindrical battery (cylindrical battery production efficiency is the highest), which directly affects the economy of producing solid-state batteries.

Finally, the production process and cost is also a problem, solid-state batteries are basically new materials, the cost is high, and according to the current production line process and technology, to large-scale processing and production of solid-state batteries, there are great challenges, and even some experts say that it is unlikely to achieve large-scale production of solid-state batteries before 2030.

In 2026, the first year of mass production of solid-state batteries?

The plans of major car companies for solid-state batteries are concentrated between 2025 and 2030, which shows that the next few years will be a critical period for the development of solid-state batteries. According to the data, GAC Aion, Changan Deep Blue, Zhiji and other car companies plan to launch semi-solid-state batteries by 2025, and mass production and loading, and it is expected that by 2026, the penetration rate of semi-solid-state batteries in the market will reach 5%. Of course, major overseas manufacturers such as Toyota and BMW are plotting new electric models equipped with solid-state batteries.

The development of solid-state batteries at home and abroad is relatively optimistic, but some experts said that there are still core problems to be solved in all-solid-state batteries, and whether 2026 can become the first year of all-solid-state batteries? The industry generally believes that the mass production time of all-solid-state batteries will be around 2030, and GAC Aion is the first to stand up and say: My solid-state batteries don't have to wait too long!

The future of "oil"-like existence

As far as car travel is concerned, electric vehicles have become the consensus of the world's five major markets, including China, Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, so the future battery is the mainstream form of the world's energy, starting from this logic, it can also be said that solid-state batteries are "oil" alternatives, who has the right to speak technology, who is the leader of travel energy.

Therefore, countries also have a lot of layouts to overcome solid-state batteries, but the paths of "betting" in various countries are very different. At present, there are three exploration paths for solid-state batteries: polymers, oxides, and sulfides. Among them, European manufacturers such as BMW and Volkswagen have invested in start-ups focusing on polymer solid-state electrolytes, while Japanese and Korean manufacturers such as Toyota and LG have chosen the technical route of sulfide solid-state electrolytes, and our Chinese companies have mainly focused on the technical route of oxide solid-state electrolytes.

At this stage, the world's manufacturers are in the stage of research and development and mid-term testing, Japan in a very early planning of the research and development of all-solid-state batteries, their technology is currently in the leading position in the world, and the number of patents for all-solid-state batteries is also far ahead, reaching 3043. The original plan was to commercialize sulfide solid-state batteries in 2020, but everyone can see the results, but it will not happen.

In terms of R&D, Japanese companies mostly cooperate in the form of groups, that is, car companies and battery manufacturers. Their R&D directly skipped the semi-solid-state battery, and the whole country, including a relatively large consortium, vehicles, materials, and battery companies, participated in the plan, in order to achieve it in one step.

As the second echelon, China and the United States have also made many breakthroughs in the research and development of solid-state batteries, with the former having 563 related patents and the latter reaching 835 patents. As early as 2019, the relevant departments issued the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)", which elevated the research and development of solid-state batteries to the national level and emphasized the importance of the commercialization of solid-state batteries. According to the current planning and progress, domestic enterprises are expected to be able to achieve large-scale mass production around 2025.

Although Chinese enterprises started late in the research of solid-state batteries, they have a positive attitude, and the related industrial chain is relatively perfect, the industrial scale is large, and the market is relatively large.

The development of solid-state batteries in South Korea and Germany is relatively slow, and South Korea has set up a team to develop solid-state batteries by leading battery companies in South Korea, and it is supported by 100 billion won. Germany, on the other hand, has the backing of the government, with 1 billion euros allocated to the development of solid-state batteries.

At present, the mainstream power batteries for electric vehicles on sale are lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries, but as we all know, these two types of batteries are close to the physical limit in terms of energy density and charging speed. Therefore, it has become a consensus to find a higher performance and safer battery form. Solid-state batteries, on the other hand, are the target.

N Comments: Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "This generation of lithium-ion batteries began to be applied around 2000, and it is expected that there will be a comprehensive innovation in 30 years". In fact, both Japanese companies and domestic new energy vehicle companies are now advancing mass production in accordance with 2027. GAC Aion dares to be the first in the world and will advance the release of self-developed and self-produced all-solid-state batteries to 2026. With the active promotion of car companies, solid-state power batteries are just around the corner!

Of course, all-solid-state batteries have just begun mass production, and the cost is bound to be high, and it is not difficult to foresee the price of a car equivalent to an ET5 from the current semi-solid-state battery pack of NIO. From mass production to promotion, and then to decentralization to models that are more economically close to ordinary people, this process will take five years, to say the least. Generally speaking, for urban family users, the median service life of a car is also about 5 years. At present, the cost of liquid lithium-ion batteries (lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium batteries) has dropped relatively low, and the price of new energy vehicles is almost the same price as traditional fuel vehicles.