The reason why pure electric vehicles have not yet been accepted by most people is mainly due to their cruising range and battery problems. Currently, most pure electric vehicles on the market use ternary lithium batteries. Among all battery types currently in use, ternary lithium batteries have the highest energy density, and their reliability has also been verified. However, ternary lithium batteries are not the best.
As we all know, in addition to ternary lithium batteries, there are also battery types with higher energy density, but they have not been fully developed yet. This type of battery is called a solid-state battery. Compared with ternary lithium batteries, solid-state batteries have higher energy density.
Just recently, Toyota, which has always been disapproving of pure electric vehicles, announced that it will demonstrate its developed solid-state battery technology for the first time in 2021. At present, the solid-state battery prototype product has been installed and operated. It was originally planned to be displayed to the public during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but it was postponed to 2021 due to the epidemic. According to the data obtained during the test, Toyota's solid-state battery prototype product is significantly faster than lithium-ion batteries in charging speed. It only takes 15 minutes to charge from zero to full power, with a range of 500 kilometers.
The difference between solid-state batteries and currently popular batteries is that they no longer use an aqueous electrolyte solution, thus reducing the risk of fire. Instead of liquid or polymer gel electrodes, solid-state batteries (as the name suggests) use solid electrodes and a solid electrolyte. It's worth noting, however, that solid-state batteries don't perform well at low temperatures, and their long-term durability has been questioned in the past. These two problems are also the reason why solid-state batteries have not been launched, and the implication of Toyota's announcement is that it seems to have overcome these two problems.
At present, Toyota has more than 1,000 patents involving solid-state batteries. It is the automaker with the most patents in solid-state battery technology. In addition to Toyota, there is another Japanese company, Nissan. Its first electric vehicle powered by solid-state batteries could arrive in 2028. Volkswagen is also reportedly close to zero - and may start producing the cells in 2025 thanks to a partnership with a US startup.
In the field of battery technology used in pure electric vehicles, solid-state batteries are regarded as a major turning point in the development of pure electric vehicles. As mentioned just now, solid-state batteries and traditional lithium-ion batteries have great advantages in all aspects. Perhaps the battery life will not be said to be greatly improved, but its charging efficiency is several times that of traditional lithium-ion batteries. In fact, it is equivalent to increasing the battery life on another level.
According to the information released by Toyota, it only takes 15 minutes to charge from zero to full power, which is not much different from the time it takes to refuel a current fuel vehicle, even if the cruising range is only 500 kilometers, it is also more convenient than current pure electric vehicles.
In addition, although Toyota said that this technology will be released in 2021 and is currently being tested on prototype vehicles, the only thing you need to know is that prototype vehicles are test vehicles, which does not mean that they are test vehicles. It is a mass-produced car, which means it is still in the testing and development stage. Judging from the current development progress of solid-state batteries among various brands, even if Toyota is the fastest to implement use in mass-produced vehicles, the fastest is expected to be 10 years later.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.