Solid state batteries have been just a whisper on the winds of the electric vehicle future. That is until Toyota got involved.
According to recent reports, the Japanese carmaker is taking its solid state battery tech to testing next year in preparation for bringing it to market in 2025.
If it pulls this off, it will be excellent news, in excellent time, for motorists looking to make the switch to electric vehicles. It could also make Toyota the first carmaker to bring solid state battery tech into the real world.
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In short, solid state battery technology promises a future of electric driving that we should all be able to get on board with. It could be the final nail in the coffin for the combustion engine industry.
They have good range, more than 300 miles Motor Trend says, require no cooling systems, can charge incredibly quickly in comparison to contemporary power packs, they’re much safer, and don’t degrade to the same extent as liquid or polymer based batteries.
Toyota’s upcoming solid state battery tech could help its future EVs charge in just 10 minutes, and travel more than 240,000 miles before any noteworthy battery degradation sets in, Nikkei reports.
With stats like that, it begs the question of why anyone would worry about range or the lifespan of an EV. There’s really no argument for not buying an EV for your daily driver.
However, we’re still yet to see how solid state batteries work in practice; in a vehicle used for daily driving.
With this news, Toyota says it will begin testing a solid state battery in an actual vehicle next year, which should give some insight into whether the lofty performance benefits hold up.
Toyota isn’t the only carmaker with its eyes on solid state battery tech. Last week, VW-backed QuantumScape said it has a production ready solid state battery ready and is shaping up to put it into cars by 2024.
The solid state battery tech announcement follows what’s been a big week for Toyota EV news.
Last week, the carmaker finally cracked the corner of the lid of its first all-electric car, the BZ. With the initial announcement, we only got a glimpse of the car’s silhouette, but a few days later, exclusive renderings surfaced that provide much more detail — check them out over on Auto Express.
It’s good to see Toyota, one of the world’s biggest carmakers, finally make the switch to the fully electric future, and do so in a big way.
Toyota has previously relied on the fact that its hybrid vehicle tech has allowed it to meet toughening emissions regulations.
However, with outright bans on combustion engine and hybrid vehicles coming to a number of key markets in the next 15 years, the Japanese carmaker is not just taking a step in the right direction, it’s taking a gigantic and exciting leap with both feet in the air — and boy do I hope it can stick the landing.
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Published December 15, 2020 — 10:16 UTC