A new report predicts that Toyota will introduce an electric car next year with a new solid-state battery that allows for 10-minute fast charging capability.
Toyota began working on solid-state batteries in 2017 with plans to commercialize the batteries inside electric vehicles early 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 that everyone tries to overcome. No later than a few days ago was John Goodenough's announcement on one glass battery revolutionary performance has provided more than one hope to bypass lithium batteries: Toyota rumors today.
The multinational plans to be the first company to sell an electric vehicle equipped with a solid-state battery. It will be a little gem, says the report, which offers 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 car manufacturer announced a new fully electric SUV which presumably slowed down its arrival also due to Covid. That will be the first totally electric step.
Next up is the solid-state battery which seems to be making progress almost everywhere among car manufacturers. Recently a promising announcement by QuantumScape, an American company that shows a battery with charging from 0% to 80% in 15 minutes.
However, almost all of them declare long times, going so far as to predict the introduction of a solid-state battery no earlier than 2025. Some even after.
There is still a lot of information missing about 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.
