Honda prepares for solid-state EV battery technology
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The race to bring solid-state batteries to market is heating up, with Honda preparing a production line it hopes will be working within months.
Honda is hopeful it will be able to double the driving range of its electric cars in the coming years, thanks to the introduction of solid-state batteries.
This week, Honda unveiled a demonstration production line for solid-state batteries, with manufacturing said to begin in January 2025 to verify the process and the batteries themselves.
Car companies have been investing billions of dollars in solid-state battery development in recent years, with the expectation the technology will deliver a major leap in the capabilities of electric cars – offering significant driving range, but taking mere minutes to recharge.
Honda aims to cut battery size by 50 per cent, battery weight by 35 per cent, and battery costs by 25 per cent by 2030.
The race to be first-to-market with solid-state batteries is fierce.
Volkswagen-backed Quantum Scape had said in late 2020 production of the technology would begin by 2025 – and it appears the company is edging closer to having a commercially-ready product, following recent endurance tests.
Quantum Scape is up against Solid Power, which has the backing of BMW and Ford, and began making relatively small 20 amp-hour solid-state batteries in 2020.
Then there’s Toyota, which has said its electric cars will be powered using solid-state batteries from 2028.
But not everyone is quite as optimistic.
In April 2024, Dr Robin Zeng – the CEO of CATL, the world’s largest producer of lithium-ion batteries – said solid-state battery technology was unreliable, unsafe, and lacked durability.
Zeng, who is a qualified engineer and holds a PhD in physics, explained he has been investing in the development of solid-state batteries for the past decade, but doesn’t believe they are commercially viable.
Since 2021, CATL has instead been working on sodium-ion batteries, which use a semi-solid material. It’s hoped the ‘salt batteries’ could double the range of lithium-ion batteries, but without the volatility and cost of more complex solid-state batteries.
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