"10-Minute Charge for 1200km Driving Range" Toyota to Commercialize All-Solid-State EV in 2027

EV Equipped with the 'Dream Battery'... Driving Range Increased 2.4 Times
Attention on Whether It Will Stand Out in the Struggling EV Sector

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation plans to develop all-solid-state batteries, considered the next-generation battery, and launch electric vehicles (EVs) equipped with them by 2027. The new battery is reported to enable driving 1,200 km on a 10-minute charge, with a cruising range 2.4 times that of existing EVs. There is keen interest both inside and outside Japan regarding how prominently Toyota can stand out in the EV sector, where it has struggled so far, with this new initiative.

On the 13th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that Toyota announced this plan at a technology briefing held the previous day at its research institute in Shizuoka Prefecture. Toyota stated it has overcome the durability issues of all-solid-state batteries and set the specific commercialization timeline for 2027?2028. Hiroki Nakajima, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), emphasized, "We have found good materials. We will not fall behind the world and will definitely commercialize this technology."

Toyota's all-solid-state battery. (Photo by NHK)

The all-solid-state battery Toyota is developing is known as the so-called "dream battery." Conventional lithium-ion batteries generally consist of a cathode, anode, separator, and electrolyte. The electrolyte is usually in liquid form, but in all-solid-state batteries, it is made solid. This makes all-solid-state batteries safer, as they are less likely to leak due to external shocks compared to lithium batteries. Additionally, they offer shorter charging times and significantly extended cruising ranges.

To achieve this, technology is required to tightly bond the solid electrolyte and solid electrodes so they do not separate. This is because repeated expansion and contraction of the electrodes during charging and discharging can cause the electrolyte and electrodes to separate, rendering the battery unusable. Until now, charging and discharging cycles have only reached several tens to hundreds, preventing commercialization. For commercialization, thousands of charge-discharge cycles are necessary.

Toyota aims to mass-produce batteries capable of driving up to 1,500 km with charging times under 10 minutes after overcoming this issue. To this end, Toyota has acquired over 1,000 related patents before advancing research and development of all-solid-state batteries, and in the summer of 2020, it became the first in the world to obtain license plates for a vehicle equipped with an all-solid-state battery and conducted test drives.

The industry is paying close attention to whether Toyota can rise to the forefront of the EV market with this plan. Toyota has been evaluated as not standing out in the EV field so far. Last year, Toyota sold only 24,000 EVs worldwide.

However, recently, Toyota has been accelerating its entry into the EV market. On the 1st of this month, Toyota announced plans to start production of a new 3-row seat sport utility vehicle (SUV) EV in the United States in 2025, leveraging subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Toyota plans to increase EV production to 1.5 million units annually by 2026 and 3.5 million units by 2030.

In addition to all-solid-state batteries, Toyota plans to improve the performance of existing liquid lithium-ion batteries and release a new product in 2026. This battery aims to enable driving approximately 1,000 km with a 20-minute charge. Nikkei reported, "By 2030, a wide range of models equipped with various batteries will be available."

Not only Toyota but other automakers are also entering the all-solid-state battery market one after another. Japanese automaker Nissan plans to launch EVs equipped with all-solid-state batteries by 2028 and will install a prototype production line at its Yokohama plant by 2024 to verify materials, design, and manufacturing processes. German automaker BMW plans to unveil a demonstration vehicle equipped with all-solid-state batteries by 2025 and mass-produce them by 2030.

As the transition to EVs becomes the global automotive market trend, research firm Fuji Keizai forecasts that the all-solid-state battery market size will expand to 3.8605 trillion yen (approximately 35.605 trillion won) by 2040.

Each company is expected to focus first on developing mass production methods that reduce manufacturing costs. According to the Japan Science and Technology Agency, the manufacturing cost of all-solid-state batteries ranges from 60,000 to 350,000 yen (550,000 to 3,220,000 won) per kWh, which is at least four times and up to 25 times more expensive than existing lithium-ion batteries (14,000 yen or 129,000 won per kWh).

This ultimately relates directly to price competitiveness. Hironori Kobayashi, Chief Researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, analyzed, "In the early stages of commercialization, all-solid-state batteries are likely to be installed only in some high-end vehicles."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.