Electric cars are the future of the automotive industry, but the technology to produce them still has a long way to go: users are demanding more autonomy, better charging times and, above all, more affordable prices. In the race to achieve these advantages, there is a particular competition that is accelerating: they are succeeding in mass-producing the holy grail of electric cars: solid-state batteries, safer and more powerful than liquid-ion batteries. Toyota, the Japanese auto giant, spoke up last month to announce a breakthrough: In 2027, it could mass-produce this technology, which will enable a range of 1,200 kilometers on a 10-minute charge.
The main difference between these batteries and those mainly used in current electric cars is the type of electrolyte, says Alexandre Ponrouch, a researcher at the Institute of Materials Science in Barcelona, where he leads a European project to develop safer and more resilient batteries. In the most common lithium-ion batteries, the electrodes – the anode and cathode – are immersed in a conductive liquid. In the case of solids, as the name suggests, they are connected by a solid material that can be of different nature.
A priori, the leap that this technology allows is a safety leap: if overheated, the liquid could ignite. In addition, according to Ponrouch, the solid state allows for a higher energy density. Its potential can be easily checked with the cheap cotton test: The big car companies – Toyota, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Nissan or BMW – invest in its development directly or through cooperation. The solid-state battery market is currently worth just $121 million, according to a report compiled by Bloomberg by consulting firm Fact MR. In 10 years, however, it will be worth more than 1.3 billion euros.
“Technology offers advances that make it possible to overcome obstacles,” emphasize the Spanish employers’ association of car manufacturers, Anfac. The solid-state battery has a higher energy density than the current lithium-ion batteries with the same cells, the manufacturers defend. “Thus, with the same space occupied by the battery, you increase the autonomy on a single charge.” This also allows, if the number of cells is reduced, to have more space for passengers and cargo. The fewer cells, the less weight the vehicle has and the higher the efficiency.
Toyota at the top
After its announcement, it seems that Toyota is ahead and struggling with the push from Chinese brands. They defend from the company that they made groundbreaking progress in solving durability issues and found a solution to the material issue that would allow an electric vehicle to be powered with a solid state battery with a range of 1,200 kilometers and a recharge time of 10 minutes.
The introduction of the Japanese company’s electric car has been slower than that of its competitors. Sales of pure electric cars were 1.8% of Tesla sales and its flagship, the Corolla, lagged behind the Elon Musk-founded company’s Model Y. “They have bucked the EV trend,” says Juan Felipe Muñoz, an analyst at automotive consultancy Jato Dynamics, “partly because they have invested a large part of their resources in the hybrid, with very positive results, both in terms of sales and emissions.” What you are doing is waiting for the others to be exhausted. They’re using the volumes they’re handling – it’s the largest in the world – to get there with an advantage.”
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On the part of the company, they defend EL PAÍS that they are not lagging behind but are working on a “multi-technology” approach: by 2030 they want to bring up to 30 battery-electric models onto the market. Although its first all-electric model, the bZ4X, had a difficult landing – it had a manufacturing defect on the wheels – the Japanese manufacturer assures that this first model is nothing more than “the beginning of the kick-off for the company’s electric vehicle offensive in recent years”.
The material problem
The Japanese company claims to have reduced the number of processes needed to manufacture the battery materials. The cost of this could be reduced to the level of liquid lithium. Gonrouch points out that these are produced very cheaply and quickly, making them more economically competitive. For the researcher, solid-state batteries are nothing more than “the new trend” as lithium-air batteries were, and he points out that there are still many challenges to developing this technology commercially. Efforts by experts in the field, he says, are now focused on finding new materials.
The biggest bottleneck in battery production is the materials: In large-scale production, materials classified as “critical” such as graphite, lithium, copper, cobalt or nickel are used almost exclusively. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the demand for lithium batteries has increased by 65% in 2022, mainly due to the growth of the electric car, which accounts for 60% of the total demand for lithium, 30% for cobalt and 10% for nickel. Five years ago these numbers were much lower: 15%, 10% and 2% respectively. However, alternatives to lithium are growing at full speed, particularly in China, where much of the sodium ion battery supply chains are concentrated.
In fact, the EU’s Court of Auditors warned last month that a shortage of raw materials – and competition from the United States – was threatening European battery production. By 2035, all cars sold in the Union will be fully electric, and Spain, Europe’s second-largest manufacturer, is at the end of electrification, Anfac’s complain. So far in 2023, the market share of new electrified vehicles (pure electric and plug-in hybrids) in Spain is 10.4%, while the European average is around 20%.
Solid state batteries can provide the necessary boost the industry needs for the inevitable transformation of the parking lot. If Toyota manages to produce them under the advanced conditions – and thus overtake the powerful Chinese companies – “it will be a revolution, because the industry has been waiting for this for a long time,” defends Muñoz, who believes in the Japanese giant’s ability to achieve this milestone. Investors are giving their confidence for the time being: since the announcement, the shares of the Japanese company have risen by more than 10% on the stock exchange. So far this year, it’s up more than 25% and is near a record price.
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