BMW and Solid Power, a company that makes batteries, have made their plans to work together on solid-state battery technology even bigger. They hope to start testing vehicles with these cells in 2023. In its Cell Manufacturing Competence Center (CMCC) in Germany, the automaker is getting ready to build a prototype line to test how to make solid-state batteries. BMW says they will show a working prototype with solid-state batteries before 2025, but they have yet to determine when they will be on the market. Several automakers and industry entrepreneurs are working on solid-state battery technology. It could make EVs lighter and give them a more extended range. Several companies are looking into different battery compositions and trying to get them from the lab to the production line. The race to put solid-state batteries in production vehicles is undoubtedly the essential thing for EV technology this decade. Solid Power, a company that makes batteries backed by Ford and BMW, is working on a design that uses a sulfide-based solid electrolyte instead of the usual liquid electrolyte. The objective is to develop a battery that is not only lighter but also has a higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion systems. This week, BMW said that Solid Power would give them full-size car cells to test this year. The development agreement between the two companies has also been expanded. Because of this, BMW will be able to construct a prototype assembly line at its Cell Manufacturing Competence Center (CMCC) in Parsdorf, Germany. Parsdorf is located close to Munich. Because of this expanded partnership, BMW and Solid Power can work on developing and making cells in places that both companies own. Before the prototype manufacturing line starts, BMW Group experts will work with the startup experts to improve the way cells are made. The company says a demonstrator vehicle with solid-state batteries will be available before 2025. David Jansen, interim CEO, president, and chair of Solid Power, said, “Expanding our relationship with BMW is another sign that both companies believe in Solid Power’s technology development and the potential of solid-state batteries.” Mercedes-Benz gives money to the Boston-based solid-state company Factorial Energy. Stellantis, Hyundai, and the solid-state developer ProLogium also provide money to the company. There are also other German manufacturers on the market. But solid-state technology won’t help BMW’s new EV, the Neue Klasse, which won’t come out until 2025. The automaker says that the latest generation of cylindrical lithium-ion batteries, called Gen6, will be available in Neue Klasse cars, giving them a 30% longer range on the WLTP cycle. Even though BMW will start testing prototypes of solid-state batteries later this year, the company thinks they are still a long way off. According to the manufacturer of automobiles, the lithium-ion cells of the next generation have a diameter of 46 millimeters and come in two distinct heights measuring 95 millimeters and 120 millimeters, respectively. The volumetric energy density of the cell will go up by more than 20% compared to the prismatic cells of the fifth generation of BMW battery cells. BMW hasn’t said when its production cars, like the Neue Klasse models, will have solid-state batteries. BMW thinks that battery-electric vehicles will make up half its sales by 2030. It’s still determined whether most of these cars will use solid-state batteries or the company’s next-generation lithium-ion batteries. BMW knows that other car companies want to be the first to use this technology. On the other hand, Solid Power makes a more specific prediction by saying that it plans to make enough electrolytes by 2028 to Power 800,000 vehicles per year. “BMW will continue to work on all-solid-state batteries, which we think have a lot of potential for the future,” said Frank Weber, a member of the Board of Management for BMW Development.
