Solid-state batteries have grabbed the auto industry by the funds. No company has managed to produce an actual vehicle with a solid-state battery in it. However, an almost charming sort of optimism has led the industry to put a lot of money into these hypothetical batteries that would theoretically make EVs as good as an engine.
Solid-state fever has spread to Europe.
Since German automakers are somewhat infamous for unnecessarily complicated car technology, solid-state batteries are a natural fit. The auto industry of Germany has a long and proud history of making complicated vehicles that have put many mechanics’ children through college. For German automakers, making a battery that no one can manufacture is a logical next step. And so, most of the big names in Germany have thrown a lot of money and hopes into solid-state batteries.
In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources.
Volkswagen Has Tested A Solid-State Battery And May Be Ready For Production
- Volkswagen Group co-developed a solid-state battery with a company called QuantumScape.
- Volkswagen’s battery retained 95% of its charging capacity after being drained and recharged 1,000 times.
- Instead of co-manufacturing its batteries with QuantumScape, Volkswagen has licensed the technology and rights to produce the batteries independently.
Volkswagen Group has been working on solid-state batteries with a company called QuantumScape. Even though no one had heard of QuantumScape before Volkswagen named-dropped them in a series of press releases, the partnership has apparently proven productive already. If Volkswagen’s claims are to be believed, the German auto conglomerate is all but ready to install its first SSBs into production cars.
Volkswagen’s Battery Was Almost As Good As New After Draining It 1,000 Times
Volkswagen’s first big solid-state news came in early 2024, when it announced that it had drained and recharged a test battery 1,000 times. At the end of this testing, the battery still had 95% of its original capacity. Of course, all batteries lose capacity over time. Indeed, in many EVs, the battery wears out before the rest of the car. However, Volkswagen’s results mean that drivers would barely notice a drop in driving range after many years. Indeed, they may lose their EV to “old car problems” before the battery gives out.
Volkswagen Has Signed A Licensing Deal To Mass-Produce Its Own Batteries
In July 2024, Volkswagen signed a license deal with QuantumScape for the rights to manufacture solid-state batteries. The two companies had previously been in a more collaborative alliance, but apparently Volkswagen wants to keep battery production in-house. Volkswagen Group hasn’t given a definitive date for when PowerCo (its battery subsidiary) will actually ship out its first batteries. However, the company made sure to put the usual clichéd words (“sustainable,” “cutting-edge,” etc.) at the top of its announcement of the new licensing deal.
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Mercedes-Benz Has Two Battery Collaborations
- Mercedes-Benz has entered into SSB partnerships with two battery companies, ProLogium and Factorial Energy.
- Although little has come of its ProLogium collaboration so far, Mercedes-Benz’s deal with Factorial Energy has already yielded a battery called Solstice.
Mercedes-Benz originally aspired to completely eliminate engines from its vehicles within this decade. However, the company has since waffled on its EV-only promises, saying that it will go all-electric by 2030 "wherever market conditions allow." However, the company has avoided any such hedge-words in its SSB press releases. More than any other company, Mercedes seems particularly fond of using the phrase “next-generation” whenever it mentions solid-state batteries.
Mercedes Signed Its First Contract With ProLogium In 2022
Mercedes-Benz got into the solid-state game relatively recently. So it should be no surprise that instead of trying to independently develop batteries, the company hastily signed a contract with a battery manufacturer. Mercedes’ agreement with ProLogium includes one seat on the Taiwanese battery company’s board of directors. However, any major developments in the joint SSB project have apparently occurred in secret. After a flurry of gushing announcements about this new joint venture (with generous use of words like “next-generation” and “sustainability”), both companies have been tactfully silent.
Solstice: Mercedes’ Current Solid-State Project
It may look like Mercedes-Benz either hasn’t gotten a battery out of its ProLogium deal or is keeping its progress secret. However, the German automaker has also sent funds and offers to other battery companies. Most notably, it has co-developed a solid-state battery with US-based company Factorial Energy. Mercedes and Factorial have been in some form of alliance since 2021. In an unexpected homage to a barely-remembered Pontiac convertible, Mercedes has dubbed the project Solstice. The two companies’ announcements are long on paragraphs but short on specifics. However, they claim that their solid-state battery will increase driving range by 80 percent.
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We recently posted a story that's getting a lot of buzz, about how Toyota has put every automaker on notice with its 745-mile solid-state battery. Sure, it has everyone talking, but how close are we really to seeing this tech in everyday EVs? Solid-state batteries promise longer range, faster charging, and improved safety, but many skeptics argue we’re still years from mass production due to cost and manufacturing challenges. So, is Toyota’s breakthrough a real step forward, or just a glimpse of a future we won’t see anytime soon? Are you excited for this tech, or do you think the solid-state hype might be overblown?
BMW May Have A Solid-State Powered EV By 2025
- BMW is collaborating with Ford Motors and a battery company called Solid Power.
- BMW has claimed that it will have a working SSB-powered EV as early as 2025.
Perhaps in a bid to escape its well-earned reputation for thoroughly complicated engines, BMW has spent a lot of money on solid-state batteries. After all, if a BMW doesn’t have an engine, all the jokes about disassembling half the car to change a spark plug can finally go to rest. The company is betting on solid-state batteries as it expands its EV lineup. Indeed, BMW may have the most ambitious solid-state plans in the entire auto industry. The company has announced that unlike everyone else, it is almost ready to actually put an SSB into a car.
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BMW Is Partnering With Ford Motors And Solid Power
Like many automakers trying to get into the solid-state game, BMW eschewed doing its own research and signed a contract with a battery company. Indeed, it seems like these days, anyone can form an SSB startup and lure a few auto executives bearing contracts and money. BMW, in particular, has entered into a partnership with Colorado-based Solid Power Inc. Interestingly, this is a three-way agreement between BMW, Solid Power, and Ford. (The long industry-wide migration away from internal combustion has given rise to many strange alliances.)
BMW May Produce The World’s First SSB EV
In 2023, BMW made a bold announcement: it would actually put solid-state batteries into a working car “as early as” 2025. If BMW is still on track to get a solid-state battery into a working car (whether in 2025 or any later year), it would be the first company to do so. Even Toyota, which has been working on solid-state batteries since 2012, has not managed to mate one with a car. Unfortunately, BMW went silent on the project after the first volley of press releases.
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The Enduring Appeal Of Solid-State Batteries
Toyota was the first company to throw large bags of money at solid-state batteries in 2012. SSBs seemed like a foolish cause at the time. However, most of the big names in the auto industry have since followed Toyota. At this point, the auto industry has been in the solid-state game for over a decade. Various automakers have made alliances with every popup battery company that can put out a hasty prospectus. Various companies are building SSB factories.
But in spite of all this expense and engineering, no one has managed to bolt an SSB into a car. Indeed, sometimes it seems dumbfounding that so many business executives have spent so much money with so little to show for it. Chinese automaker Nio has come the closest with its use of semi-solid state batteries. (Semi-SSBs mix conventional battery electrolytes with solid ones instead of exclusively using one or the other.) After livestreaming a 647-mile drive on a single charge, the Chinese EV manufacturer made semi-SSB- equipped cars available to the public. So, while semi-solid state electrolytes have been put into cars, no one has managed to get an all-solid-state battery into one.
The Advantages Of Solid-State Batteries
The long and expensive push for solid-state batteries seems like folly. However, solid-state batteries have too much potential for anyone to give up on. Indeed, sometimes the theoretical advantages of solid-state batteries can sound more like a wild fantasy. They can fast-charge without wearing out. (Fast-charging severely shortens the lifespans of lithium-ion batteries.) They don’t internally fizzle out in severe heat, nor do they lose their charge in extreme cold. They can provide more driving range than a full tank of gasoline. (TopSpeed’s own readers have told us that short ranges are the biggest reason they still prefer internal combustion.) Indeed, sometimes it seems like solid-state batteries will solve every unresolved EV problem short of autonomous driving.
The Disadvantages Of Solid-State Batteries
Solid-state batteries have proven fiendishly difficult to get into EVs. Although they are an old technology, they have always been used for very small devices like hearing aids and pacemakers. A swarm of physics problems gets in the way of anyone attempting to make them large enough to power a car. Even if scientists manage to get past all the various reasons SSBs have hitherto been scientifically impossible, there are other barriers. The biggest one is cost. So far, SSBs have been very expensive for produce. Not for nothing is Samsung deliberately selling its solid-state batteries for use in luxury vehicles only.
Lastly, solid-state batteries use a lot of lithium. Indeed, they use more lithium than lithium-ion batteries. And, lithium is a finite resource. As EVs rise in popularity, there has been a quiet murmuring among scientists about an upcoming lithium shortage. The world’s remaining lithium sources are growing more scarce and harder to mine. The entire industry’s push for solid-state batteries may sputter out due to material shortages. However, the auto industry has been marching merrily forward as if the lithium parade will never end. The possibilities of solid-state batteries are too tantalizing to resist.
