A new report heralds that next year Toyota will unveil an electric car with a new solid-state battery that allows for a 10-minute quick-charge capacity.
Toyota began work on solid-state batteries in 2017 with plans to commercialize the batteries in electric vehicles early in the next decade.
Now Nikkei Asia publishes a new report about Toyota's plans to unveil a car powered by its next-generation solid-state battery in 2021.
The Toyota solid state battery
The technology is a potential panacea for the drawbacks of electric vehicles running on conventional lithium-ion batteries.
The relatively short distance traveled on a single charge and charging times are a problem everyone is trying to overcome. Not later than a few days ago John Goodenough's announcement about one glass battery revolutionary performance has provided more than one hope to bypass lithium batteries: Toyota rumors today.
The multinational expects to be the first company to sell an electric vehicle equipped with a solid-state battery. It will be a gem, the report says, offering a range of around 500 kilometers (310 miles) and a recharge in just 10 minutes.
If the report is accurate, Toyota would be ahead, but for now, I'd take it with a grain of salt.
Also because it would be a big leap in quality if you consider that Toyota has not yet launched a fully electric vehicle outside of China.
Before the solid state battery
In January 2020, the Japanese carmaker announced a new all-electric SUV that allegedly slowed the arrival also due to Covid. That will be the first totally electric step.
To follow, the solid state battery that seems to be making progress almost everywhere among the car manufacturers. Recently a promising announcement by QuantumScape, an American company that shows a battery with charging from 0% to 80% in 15 minutes.
Almost all, however, declare long times, coming to foresee the introduction of a solid state battery not before 2025. Some even after.
Much information is still missing on Toyota's solid-state batteries. How many charging cycles can it achieve? What is the capacity at different temperatures (the current Achilles heel for a solid state battery)?
I'm not saying it's impossible that Toyota has solved them, but I think we need more information.
