Battery giant’s CEO says next-generation technology in Toyota’s electric vehicle plans is not safe or reliable

Solid-state batteries have been heralded by many automakers as the next frontier in electric vehicle (EV) technology, offering benefits in terms of range, energy density and packaging efficiency.

However, the boss of the world’s largest EV battery maker, CATL, said they are not yet viable.

CATL founder and CEO (and physicist) Robin Zeng, whose company supplies BMW and Tesla, told Financial Times The technology still has significant hurdles to overcome.

Solid-state batteries, as the name suggests, use a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid electrolyte, such as those found in today’s electric vehicle batteries, to stimulate electron transfer.

“We fully support solid state, but I have been investing in this sector for 10 years,” Mr. Zeng said. Financial Timesthinks CATL is “second to none” in the race to make this technology viable.

“I follow the developers working on solid state almost every month, so I know all the progress and somehow we still have these demonstrators.”

He said his team is prototyping sodium-ion batteries and condensed matter batteries, which use semi-solid materials and are said to be capable of storing twice as much energy as conventional lithium-ion batteries. often.

Zeng said solid-state batteries only have an advantage over existing batteries if they use a new chemistry along with pure lithium metal as the anode electrode.

He noted that there are problems with lithium ions diffusing within the solid material and also raised issues with both durability and safety.

“[The battery] cannot last much [charging] cycles, maybe 10 cycles,” he said, explaining that the expansion of lithium during charging and discharging can damage the battery. “So how can you make it commercially viable?”

Finally, he explains that solid-state batteries can pose safety issues, as lithium will react with moisture in the air if the battery ruptures in a car accident.

Mr. Zeng is not the only battery executive to pour cold water on the idea of ​​solid-state batteries in the short term.

Dr. Doron Myersdorf, CEO of Israeli battery startup StoreDot, said: “It is important that leading battery developers like StoreDot provide global automakers with a roadmap realistically and without exaggeration to showcase ultra-fast charging battery technologies.” return in 2022.

“Right now, despite some optimistic statements by our competitors, solid-state batteries are still at least 10 years away. They are certainly not a silver bullet for any automaker currently developing a fast-charging electric vehicle architecture.”

Instead, the CEO said, his company will look to bring semi-solid batteries to market this decade.

There are currently no mass-market electric vehicles using solid-state batteries, but BMW, Nissan and Toyota have all confirmed they are working on implementing the technology.

Toyota says it has overcome problems with the shorter lifespan of solid-state batteries and aims to have the technology ready for use in its vehicles by 2027-28.

It claims the first solid-state battery will offer 20% more range than next-generation ‘Performance’ lithium-ion batteries, while also being able to charge from 10 to 80% in 10 minutes or less .

Nissan also plans to launch its self-developed solid-state battery in 2027/28.

They claim they will offer twice the energy density of lithium-ion batteries, superior charge/discharge performance and lower cost through the use of less expensive materials. They also say they can deploy these features across multiple vehicle segments, including pickup trucks.

American startup Solid Power has also established a solid-state battery production line and produced solid-state batteries for BMW.

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