{"id":9144,"date":"2023-10-24T12:36:41","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T12:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/power2innovate.com\/toyota-breakthrough-what-are-solid-state-batteries-and-why-do-we-need-them\/"},"modified":"2023-10-24T12:36:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T12:36:41","slug":"toyota-breakthrough-what-are-solid-state-batteries-and-why-do-we-need-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/power2innovate.com\/toyota-breakthrough-what-are-solid-state-batteries-and-why-do-we-need-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Toyota breakthrough: What are solid-state batteries and why do we need them?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Solid-state batteries could be lighter and more powerful than current batteries<\/p>\n
Phonlamai Photo\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
Toyota says it has made a breakthrough that will allow \u201cgame-changing\u201d solid-state batteries to go into production by 2028. These devices will be lighter and more powerful than current batteries, giving electric cars a range of 1200 kilometres with a charging time of just 10 minutes. But should we pin our hopes on them?<\/p>\n
The lithium-ion batteries that we rely on in our phones, laptops and electric cars have a liquid electrolyte through which ions flow in one direction to charge the battery and the other direction when it is being drained. Solid-state batteries, as the name suggests, replace this liquid with a solid material.<\/p>\n
A lithium-ion battery will typically have a graphite electrode, a metal oxide electrode and an electrolyte of lithium salt dissolved in some sort of solvent. In solid-state batteries, you might find one of a whole host of promising materials replacing lithium, including ceramics and sulfides.<\/p>\n
Although some solid-state battery prototypes still use it, one big advantage of cutting out lithium is that it is in short supply and environmentally damaging to mine<\/a>. The shortage is only likely to worsen as the world shifts away from fossil fuels towards using more renewable electricity stored in batteries.<\/p>\n There are also fundamental advantages to solid-state technology, as well as logistical and economic ones. Removing the liquid electrolyte makes batteries less susceptible to fires<\/a>, for example. And while conventional lithium batteries charge quickly up to 80 per cent of their capacity, they charge slowly from there to 100 per cent. Solid-state batteries can be fully charged more quickly.<\/p>\n Crucially, though, solid electrolytes are less dense, so a solid-state battery can be smaller and lighter than its lithium-ion competitor. This could, in turn, make electric cars smaller and lighter, or give them a greater range for the same size and weight. The increased energy density and lower weight could even make electric aircraft a viable proposition<\/a>.<\/p>\n Solid-state batteries are nothing new \u2013 solid electroytes were created in the 1800s by Michael Faraday<\/a>, and they are currently used in medical implants. But a technique to manufacture them cheaply has been elusive.<\/p>\n The obvious benefits have seen car companies pouring cash into research. Ford and BMW have invested in a company called Solid Power that has previously said it will manufacture enough cells for 800,000 cars a year by 2028<\/a>, while Mercedes-Benz<\/a> has put money into another called Factorial Energy.<\/p>\n Toyota\u2019s claims come after\u00a0signing a deal earlier this month with Japanese petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan<\/a>, which says it has been working on a sulphide solid electrolyte. The companies hope to start manufacturing a solid-state battery for cars in either 2027 or 2028, with production ramping up at a later date.<\/p>\n Results from industry are less likely to be transparently published because of industrial rivalry, but academia has also had its fair share of success. Earlier this year, a team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences managed to recharge a solid-state lithium-sulfur battery 1400 times<\/a>, proving that these types of devices can have a long lifespan.<\/p>\n NASA has also developed a battery made of solid, stacked cells of sulfur and selenium cells, which it says can cut battery weight by up to 40 per cent while also tripling the energy density<\/a>.<\/p>\n But these bold claims haven\u2019t yet translated into real world products, and Toyota\u2019s announcement puts it on a growing list of companies betting on solid-state battery technology. Time will tell which company can get there first and how much of a boost new battery designs can offer.<\/p>\nHow far away are they?<\/h2>\n