Toyota solid-state battery ‘mass production' limited even in 2030

TOKYO — Toyota has pitched solid-state batteries as a breakthrough technology that will power a next generation of advanced, long-range electric vehicles landing in just a few short years.

But in reality, the first batch of commercial batteries will likely be enough to supply only a couple thousand vehicles. And "mass production" planned to start in 2030 will support just several tens of thousands.

The figures, newly detailed in a post by Toyota Motor Corp.'s in-house media mouthpiece, Toyota Times, underscore the limited initial impact of solid-state technology, despite its promise.

Toyota announced last month it would team with Japanese petrochemical giant Idemitsu Kosan Co. to commercialize the advanced battery technology in the 2027-28 time frame, paving the way for what they called "full-scale" mass production in 2030 and beyond.

Idemitsu will focus on developing a sulfide solid electrolyte that enables high energy capacity and high power output. A large-scale pilot plant will start producing it in the 2027 fiscal year.

That operation will have an initial annual capacity for several hundred tons.

But Idemitsu plans to start mass production in 2030 by boosting annual output to several thousand tons, Toyota Times reported. That is enough for more than 10,000 vehicles, it said. The website originally said that is enough for “over 10,000 vehicles.” But Toyota, citing a translation error in its original report, later amended the figure to “several tens of thousands.”

A spokeswoman said the volume figure was derived by calculating the production capacity for the electrolyte against the target amount needed in each battery cell and in each vehicle to achieve the desired performance.

“The result was a few ten thousands,” the spokeswoman said. "When we say mass production, the volume we have in mind is more than a few thousands per year."

The figure, Toyota Times added, is "in line with Toyota's product plans."

Successful development of all-solid-state batteries is considered critical to unlocking the potential of full EVs by enabling much longer ranges in smaller, lighter packages.

The batteries, which have a ceramic-like electrolyte instead of a liquid one, are much more energy dense and faster charging, and they are considered safer than today's liquid electrolyte lithium ion batteries. Solid-state batteries are viewed as especially beneficial in sports cars and big SUVs.

The batteries are scheduled to arrive in time to help Toyota Motor achieve its goal of selling 3.5 million EVs worldwide in 2030.

But it remains a challenge to manufacture solid-state batteries at scale while maintaining quality. Toyota is developing the advanced battery technology at its Teiho factory in Toyota City, where it previewed its efforts to journalists last month.

Toyota plans two versions of all-solid-state batteries. The first will arrive around 2027 to 2028. Toyota targets a range of more than 621 miles for that battery and predicts it will recharge from 10 to 80 percent in about 10 minutes.

The second will arrive after that, at an unspecified date. Toyota has said it will have a range exceeding 745 miles.

Idemitsu has been working on the fundamentals of solid-state batteries since 2001, while Toyota began its own R&D in 2006, the companies said. The two began jointly researching sulfide-based solid electrolytes in 2013.

Toyota delivered a prototype vehicle powered by solid-state batteries in 2020 with its LQ pod car. But mass-producing the batteries with sufficient speed and quality is fraught with complexity.

The world's largest carmaker is hardly alone in pursuing the technology.

In just Japan, Honda Motor Co. is building a pilot line for solid-state batteries and banking on the technology to power its transition to being a combustion-free automaker by 2040. Meanwhile, Nissan Motor Co. has announced plans to plow about $1.2 billion into developing solid-state batteries on the way to bringing them to market around 2028. It starts pilot production in 2024.