Toyota Seeking 900-Mile EV Range With Solid-State Battery Tech
23
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Toyota has laid out a new strategic roadmap for electric vehicles which will see it develop EV batteries with a range of 900 miles “or more” using solid-state technology.
According to a report by Automotive News, the Japanese automaker is aiming to achieve this goal with a solid-state battery that may be powering Toyota EVs by 2028.
A Toyota battery plant under construction in North Carolina
Along with an assortment of other futuristic EV technologies, Toyota says it is committed to bringing a sequence of new battery types into production during the coming five years. The first goal is a next-generation lithium-ion battery offering 600 miles of range per charge, expected to be available by 2026 for use in an all-electric Lexus.
From this stepping stone, Toyota executives claim the automaker will develop a bipolar lithium-iron phosphate battery that cuts costs by around 40 percent. This should lead to a battery with an approximate 660-mile range in 2026 to 2027, followed by an advanced version the following year with 10 percent greater range.
The company plans to introduce a solid-state battery with a roughly 720-mile range by 2027, followed by a 900-mile advanced version by sometime in 2028. Hiroki Nakajima, the automaker’s chief technology officer, stated that Toyota is “determined to be the world leader in batteries.” He added that the company views as crucial “to make these batteries compatible with any kind of model.”
GM is also working on solid-state battery tech that could potentially help it rival Toyota at some point. As far back as 2019, The General received $2 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop solid-state batteries for EVs. The funds were part of a bigger $9.1 million package and were earmarked for specific goals.
By early 2021, GM was already planning for a second generation of Ultium batteries offering a 500 to 600 mile range overall. A few months later, in April 2021, GM said it was researching several different battery technologies to see which would provide lowered battery costs.
The technologies under consideration included solid state and high-voltage electrolytes, dry processing of electrodes, and silicon-rich and lithium metal anodes. More recently, in February 2023, GM China received the 2022 R&D 100 award for development of new high-power bipolar solid-state battery tech.
Solid-state batteries like those GM and Toyota are developing will provide approximately 250 percent of a standard lithium battery’s charge, avoid the heat issues of liquid batteries, are lighter and offer greater longevity.
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All this tech is advancing so quickly that it seems a 2 years old EV will be very outdated. Kind of like how cell phones were for a while. I’m not one of them, but for those who always want the latest and greatest thing, they may need to “update” their EV every 2 years.
Either way, this is all great. It won’t be long and we will have 1,000 mile ranges with ultra fast charging that will go from 10% to 90% in 10 minutes or less with that 1,000 mile range. We will also see a huge influx of charging stations. Just in the past 6 months, there are now 2 new EVgo DC fast chargers within a mile of my house. One just opened last week and it at an Arco gas station!
Don’t get me wrong, I want all of this to be true, but right now we have ICE shortages and an economy on the fritz. We’re being promised the Jetsons in the very near future. The dichotomy is so surreal that I question if it will happen at all. It feels like the promises are too good to be true when there’s nothing to show for it.
Agreed. I have a strategic roadmap to be a billionaire sometime in 2028, too.
Richard P: At this point, the shortages of ICE is manufacturer induced. I’ll give you an example from where I work. We have Mazda and Volvo. Through this entire micro-chip thing and shortages, Volvo did get low on cars but not as bad as others. They have been pumping cars out now like mad and we have an abundance of Volvo’s. Mazda on the other hand still has short supply and it’s 100% self induced. Mazda has told us that they are purposely holding down inventory to keep supply low and prices up. This is not something I’m making up. Mazda said this. Toyota is doing the same thing as are many others. Over the past couple years, the dealers found a new way to put the screws to customers and the manufacturers have found a way to get their ATP up with lower incentives. It’s good business, but it also sucks for buyers. Again, we are speaking of ICE and not the EV’s.
As for the economy, it’s been getting better and all the indicators point to a stable economy that is heading in the right direction. But I won’t say any more in fear of starting some political fire storm that I don’t want. I’m just stating what the indicators are. Nothing more.
The last thing I’d say is that when I said it “won’t be long”, I was saying that in relation to how long it took cars (ICE) to evolve. Basically, the first 30 years didn’t show much change. The next 30 years advanced some and it’s really been just since around 1995 that technology has taken off. What we have seen in just the past 5 years for EV’s is amazing. What we will see in the next 5 years will be impressive. What we see in the next 10 years will blow our minds. So in other words, it’s not going to take 50 + years like before.
I’m sure you’re completely right about the auto market. My question is what will convince the manufacturers to change from induced shortages to producing a bunch of cheap EVs?
They have been developing solid state for years. I’m not sure what is taking so long. I wish Toyota and GM luck. I’m sure it will happen eventually.
3% unemployment and record corporate profits along with record stock market performance. I LOVE THIS ECONOMY…ON THE FRITZ
And record inflation……
Seems like they’ve gotten the COST down but the range and weight of the battery hasn’t improved much…
Not sure how Toyota can be so confident as to reliably expected range years in the future….
Read up on the Phoenix battery just developed in China. A 600+ mile range that can be recharged in six minutes. The future is now. Gasoline will always be available for you to run that 12 mpg Chevy 4X4 and you can continue to complain about everything. Our economy is on the fritz? You don’t know what an economy on the fritz is. My first home mortgage interest rate was 12%. This was after the 10.8% unemployment rate in 1982. People are going to look back at these times years from now as the good old days.
The “good ole days” were before the clown we have in the White House right now.
Research what heat does to batteries , especially cramming abundance of it in a short period of time to a battery, just saying . But if replacing a 30 thousand dollar battery is your thing then put your money down now .
If you primarily charge at home on a L2 charger and run between 20 to 80% charge, the life of the battery should exceed the warranty by a good margin. Repeated DCS charging causes issues so folks that rely on that will see batteries degreade.
Data I’ve seen on battery degradation is a nominal fall off (5 or 10%), but then rate of change decreases a lot.
Finally, given that the rest of $70K EV is in good shape (should be as electric motors last forever and brakes should be under used, software updates), dropping in a $30K battery is like getting a new car.
1000 miles of range in 10 minutes is a non-trivial amount of electricity.
We’ll have gas stations/charging centers needing the electricity of literally a steel mill, and the power grid isn’t remotely ready for that.
I don’t thing some are actually reading what I wrote. First, as I pointed out in my second comment, I’m talking a few years down the road. At the rate we are going, just 5 years from now things will be much different from now. The automotive world is advancing much faster now than in the past.
Point two: I didn’t say we can get 1,000 miles of range in 10 minutes. Not today or not in the next few years. What I said is 10% to 90% of a vehicle with a 1,000 mile range in 10 minutes, in the not so far away future. Yes it’s going to take investments and infrastructure changes and yes this won’t be in the next 2 or 3 or 4 years. But 5 + years from today we will be seeing a much different picture than today.
Ford is also working with solid state lithium cells, and probably will be in production before GM and Toyota. But the true winner in the EV race will be the first to produce lower cost models below $30,000, such as what Chevy promised with the low level Equinox. Then everyone will go for EVs.
GM Owner: This is where GM once again dropped the ball big time. Although they still “sell” the Bolt, nobody can get them and we are only months away from it’s end of production. But GM had that fantastic under 30 grand EV with the Bolt. Sure you could order one out to well over 30 grand, but I ordered mine (2023) in 1LT base EV with several options and an MSRP of $28,315. Fantastic car for that amount even without incentives/tax credits.
So where GM messed up again is killing that only vehicle. The Bolt is an EV that they should have kept, should have limited it to under 30 grand (dropped the higher trims/options) and used it as a stepping stone for those interested in going EV but not for the price of a house. Those same people would most likely be so impressed, that they would then move up within the Chevrolet line or maybe move to a GMC, Buick or Cadillac next. That’s where GM will lose.
I just want to sEE Toyota call onE of thEir EVs thE PrEVius. I’m vEry hopEful this will happEn sincE adding a E or EV to thE currEnt namE is, what my kids would say, “shut up dad”….so it has to happEn.
All of this sounds like great news and everyone is getting excited about vehicles that can travel 1000 on a single charge and are continuing to expand the charging station network. What no one is talking about is the US electrical grid. Our current infrastructure cannot handle today’s demand let alone the future. Permits are being turned down daily across the US because the local and state infrastructure cannot support the additional electrical demand. That said, I don’t see our local, state and federal government planning or building any new power plants to support the climate agenda. The US cannot run on wind turbines and solar power and it takes years to create any type of new energy source. We are putting the cart before the horse. Blackouts and requests to cut back your heating and air are going to happen sooner than you think.
I am really hoping that the current Ultimum skateboard battery pack will be replaceable by new drop in solid-state batteries when (and If) they come out. It seems like that should be a design point to future-proof your EV and still make money via upgrades.
I just read an article today on how much an EV battery range is affected by the load as well as temperature, They said an F150 carries a load of 1,400 pounds (20 bags of concrete mix) its range is reduced by 25%. If that same vehicle is operating in temperatures under 30 degrees Fahrenheit it will lose another 30%.
In addition to range issues, EVs also pose multiple other challenges for owners, like the cost of batteries. EV batteries usually come with manufacturer warranties of eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever is earlier.
The cost of replacing an EV battery ranges from more than $15,000 for a Tesla to over $23,000 for a VW e-Golf. So, people who own used EVs or plan to buy one might end up in a tough spot if the battery were to malfunction.
To make matters worse, EV fuel costs are now even beating gas-powered vehicles. An analysis by Anderson Economic Group (AEG) found that “in Q4 2022, typical mid-priced ICE [Internal Combustion Engine] car drivers paid about $11.29 to fuel their vehicles for 100 miles of driving.”
“That cost was around $0.31 cheaper than the amount paid by mid-priced EV drivers charging mostly at home, and over $3 less than the cost borne by comparable EV drivers charging commercially.”
The article states some promising news, however, it is not going to happen as quickly as some think.
Good points, but if the Biden Admin didn’t Institute a war on fossil fuels and gasoline costs was at the 2019 levels the comparison might still be in ICE favor.
A coherent strategy of moving to natural gas and nuckear for electricity production, upgrade of electrical networks, in country mining and processing of battery materials and battery development could have done this with no dislocation of jobs and min impact to the environment or economic.
@DrPiz: careful of the Anderson Group report. There are numerous problems with it: they cherry picked their data, they double-counted costs of EV charging equipment & installation, and, worst of all, they factor in a “cost” of waiting for charging, assuming that everyone does 100% of their charging at commercial charging stations, instead of at home during the night, which is where 80% of charging actually occurs.
For a more realistic number, check out AAA, or any automotive magazine or financial reporting site. They all agree that EV costs are far less than ICE vehicles. For example, take a look at CNN’s “These charts show how much it costs to charge an EV vs. refueling a gas vehicle”.