Nissan expects that the solid-state battery technology it’s busily developing will be ready for mass production in 2028. Development work is ongoing, but the Japanese company believes it’s well positioned to launch pilot production in 2025 and gradually improve the technology.
“We think we have something quite special and are in a group leading the technology. We want to get the cost down [compared to lithium-ion batteries] by 50%, to double the energy density, and to offer three times the charging speed,” David Moss, Nissan’s senior vice-president for research and development in Europe, told British magazine Autocar. Development work is taking place in Japan and in England.
Nissan isn’t alone; numerous carmakers and suppliers are developing solid-state batteries. Moss explained the his team is working on a true solid-state battery that doesn’t require a liquid electrolyte. “Some solid-state batteries still have the liquid electrolytes, and this is an issue, as that liquid boils. The efficiency of that energy in storage and transfer and the power you put into it will be impacted,” he said.
While solid-state batteries remain at the prototype stage, they promise to unlock several advantages compared to the lithium-ion batteries that power a vast majority of the EVs currently on the road. One is quicker charging: The logic is that driving range won’t matter as much if charging can be reliably done as quickly as refueling a gas tank. In turn, carmakers will be able to build electric cars with smaller battery packs and (hopefully) pass the savings on to buyers to reduce the price gap between an EV and a comparable gasoline-powered model.
It’s too early to tell which model(s) will inaugurate the solid-state technology, though Autocar notes the car will need to ride on a new platform and likely be assembled in a new factory. Moss explained that the technology is not linked to a specific vehicle program to ensure that nothing else gets delayed if meeting the 2028 deadline isn’t possible. Nissan is still investing in lithium-ion technology to be on the safe side.
Developing EVs has cost Nissan €7.8 billion so far (about $8.4 billion at the current conversion rate), its first mass-produced electric car was the original Leaf unveiled in 2010, and executives plan to spend an additional €15.6 billion (approximately $16.8 billion) in the coming years.
