Solid-state batteries offer plenty of promising benefits in comparison to the lithium-ion battery. so the companies are trying to innovate the best solid-state battery before someone else does.
Most experts claim that the transition to solid-state batteries is not a question of whether it will happen but rather when it will happen. as a result, this has led to a multitude of corporations attempting to be the first ones to obtain this new technology.
There seems to be a lot of hype around solid-state batteries. but how close are these companies to reaching commercial solid-state batteries and who will be first?
Conventionally, a lithium-ion battery consists of an electrolytic solution anode and cathode. a solid-state battery on the other hand replaces the liquid electrolytic solution with a salt electrolyte. this allows for a significant package downsizing as a solid-state battery allows for more energy in a smaller amount of space.
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All of this sounds fantastic and theory. but why is it that salty batteries aren’t here yet. the problem with the current solid-state batteries is that while the battery is charging, lithium-ion dendrites are lithium-ion crystals. they formed the anode penetrating through the separator and consequently reaching the cathode. this will lead to plenty of short circuits. as these short circuits continue to ramp up during the charging phase. thus all state battery continues to heat up. leading to a fire or even an explosion.
Sakti3
In 2014 Sakti3 announced the launch of a solid-state lithium-ion battery which supposedly has a higher energy density and a lower cost than the conventional lithium-ion battery. strangely enough in 2015, Sakti3 was acquired by Dyson.
At around the same time, Toyota went out and found plenty of patents around the technology. in the car manufacturer officially announced that it would be developing a solid-state battery.
Two to three years later, Toyota announced the deepening of its partnership with Panasonic which included a solid-state battery collaboration.
Along with Toyota and Dyson, plenty of other companies are springing at the opportunity including BMW, Volkswagen, Samsung, Honda, Hyundai, and Nissan.
Samsung
Back in the middle of March researchers from the Samsung advanced institute of technology also known as the SAIT revealed the prototype of a solid-state battery that would allow an electric vehicle to travel 500 miles and one charge. Samsung also claimed that the battery would last 1,000 charges. which means that the battery can last 500,000 miles before degrading a significant amount.
The benefits still don’t and Samsung claims that their salty batteries are far safer than lithium-ion batteries. to prevent dendrites from forming in the battery during the charging phase, Samsung has decided to use a micro silver carbon layer as the anode. allowing them to reduce the anal thickness and boost energy density to 900-watt hours per liter.
Due to how small the silver carbon layer is, the battery will be 50% smaller than the conventional lithium-ion battery.
However, the question is when are Samsung’s all-state batteries coming to the market. in short not anytime soon. Samsung’s solid-state battery is still in its early stages. and many questions remain unanswered. for example, what would the price of this battery cost? it’s no question that the price would increase substantially if silver was used in each battery.
Not only that, but my Samsung study also didn’t mention anything about power density. power density will affect the performance of the vehicle in the charging time of the battery. this factor remains unknown. likely for a good reason.
Dyson
Dyson a company that sells vacuum cleaners air purifiers hair dryers and so much more looks to announce a solid-state battery breakthrough sometime in 2020. or originally Dyson was looking to create an electric vehicle but that plane was killed off when the company announced that it would focus on solid-state batteries.
Being in a restricted market with its current products, Jim Rowan the CEO of Dyson knows how important solid-state batteries will be for the company. he invested a total amount of 2.5 billion dollars in 400 engineers into the research and development of solid-state batteries.
However, where you have to hear any updates from Dyson but with that much money invested into the R&D of solid-state batteries, there must be some significant advancements going on behind the scenes.
Toyota
In October 2019, the Toyota chief cleaned out there producing a car with solid-state batteries and will unveil it in 2020. but mass production with solid-state batteries will be a little later. with over six years of R&D, it looks like Toyota may be nearing the release of their solid-state battery. but until we get more information it remains in speculation.
Tesla
While Tesla hasn’t openly declared its development of the solid-state battery, people speculate that the secret project codenamed Roadrunner may be working on a solid-state battery. this technology is speculated to be least on Tesla’s battery investor day which has recently been pushed back to mid-may by Elon Musk. he said that there are a lot of things to talk about on this day which could be a solid safe battery.
Volkswagen
Back in late 2018, Volkswagen announced the 100 million dollar investment into Quantum Scape, a company heavily invested in solid-state battery research. however, the company has said that it’s planning for solid-state battery production by 2025. so at a pace, Volkswagen seems to be behind in the race for solid-state batteries.
Hyundai & BMW
Hyundai and BMW have all invested in the same Colorado-based start-up named Solid Power. the startup claims to have achieved a breakthrough from its high-capacity lithium metal anode in its solid-state batteries. in its first round of funding that included BMW, Hyundai, and Samsung solar power received just twenty million dollars. while this may seem like a large amount it isn’t much compared to the billions of Toyota, Dyson, and Samsung.
