Toyota plans to begin limited solid battery production for electric cars in 2025, says Keiji Kaita, vice president of powertrain technology at Toyota. But he also emphasizes that despite a functioning prototype, there are still some errors in the technology to be eliminated.
The electric car industry has great hopes for the solid battery. In contrast to the currently mainly used lithium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries do not use a liquid electrolyte, but – as the name suggests – a solid material. The solid-state batteries should have a greater energy density and give an electric car of the same size a greater range than a battery with liquid electrolyte. In addition, the charging process is much faster and the battery holds its capacity much longer than the electric car batteries common today.
Production begins from 2025
Several manufacturers are currently researching the technology. Along with Tesla and Volkswagen, Toyota is one of them. Now Toyota’s vice president of the drive technology department, Keiji Kaita, gave an interview to the Auto News portal in which he underlined that Toyota is on schedule with the development of a solid-state battery and that it will initially be produced in limited numbers from 2025.
In collaboration with Panasonic
The Toyota engineers had already built a working battery prototype and integrated it into a “working concept vehicle,” said Kaita. The prototype cells have a thin, bag-shaped design and are combined in modules to form a battery pack. Toyota is working closely with Panasonic to research the new battery technology. At the Japanese electronics company, however, it has so far been assumed that solid-state technology will only be ready for the market in the second half of the decade.
Sulfur based electrolyte challenges
The electrolyte that Toyota is researching is sulfur-based. Kaita emphasized in the interview that working with this material had proven difficult because the engineers had to find a way to pack it tightly and still make it flexible without affecting battery performance. Cells made with this electrolyte must also be made in an ultra-dry environment, which could make scaling up for mass production difficult. The Japanese car manufacturer currently still produces the cells in compact cabins. The workers reach into the cabins through sealed rubber gloves to work on them.
Toyota also has to overcome one of the biggest problems with solid-state batteries: the defects that often occur after repeated charging.
“In order to counteract restrictions, we are examining how we can adapt the anode or other materials. We are trying to reduce the disadvantages identified,” Kaita told Auto News.
Higher density, fast charging
In addition to their higher energy density, another benefit of Toyota’s prototype cells is that they can be fully charged in 15 minutes. In addition, the car manufacturer aims to ensure that the capacity loss of the batteries does not exceed ten percent after 30 years of use.
Other automakers are also showing interest in the technology. Volkswagen has already made several major investments in the solid-state battery manufacturer QuantumScape. And even the electric car pioneer Tesla is not idle in this field. The Californian automaker is expected to reveal information on the state of the art at the announced Battery Day.
