Solid-state batteries are safer, lighter, and have a higher energy density. They are supposed to be the next big step forward in making electric vehicles practical. For many years, they have been the best battery technology, but big companies like Toyota have been able to keep them from becoming financially viable. However, a Chinese company called SAIC Motor says it will start making solid-state batteries in large quantities in 2026. This means that China may be the first country in the world to market these batteries. Autohome says the company said at a SAIC Group energy technology conference that it will start giving its car brands this technology early in 2019. Reports say that “all-solid-state” batteries will come after “semi-solid-state” batteries, which still need a liquid medium. True solid-state batteries aren’t expected to come out until 2026. However, hybrid and electric SAIC-brand cars (including MG, Baojun, Wuling, and others) are said to start using them in 2025. Based on what CnEVPost says SAIC predicted for 2021, this schedule makes sense. It shows that technology is growing at the expected rate, which supports its 2026 ETA. If solid-state batteries come out by 2026, SAIC and the Chinese auto industry as a whole will be years ahead of the big automakers in the world. It is well-known that Toyota supports this technology and has spent years testing a prototype of a solid-state electric car (EV). Toyota, on the other hand, says it won’t start making a lot of batteries until 2030, and even then, it only plans to make 10,000 batteries a year, enough for 10,000 electric vehicles. Nissan, a competitor, plans to catch up and beat that mark earlier in 2028. But it will be hard for a company that lost the lead in EVs and has yet to be able to get it back. Developing solid-state battery technology in China would help the country’s growing auto industry, which many Western countries see as a threat. We still need to find out if SAIC, Nissan, and Toyota’s plans can be carried out. There have been many alleged scientific findings about solid-state batteries that still need to be turned into useful commercial products. For a number of cultural and other reasons, people will still be skeptical of the electric cars (EVs) that will power them, even if technology gets better to that point. That is the biggest reason why people don’t buy EVs, but that’s a different subject for another time. In fact, things are not going well.
