The work on solid-state batteries, funded by Toyota, will begin to bear fruit as early as next year, when the Japanese auto giant demonstrates a prototype of an electric vehicle based on them, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. Toyota will establish serial production of electric vehicles with batteries based on solid-state electrolyte in the next few years.

According to the primary source, the new type of batteries not only increase the density of electricity storage without increasing the size but also increase fire safety compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries. Even a compact electric car with new batteries will provide a mileage of up to 500 km per charge without compromising the comfortable accommodation of passengers, and on average the mileage will increase to more than two times under comparable conditions. A mid-size electric car based on new batteries will be able to travel up to 1000 km without recharging. Temperature conditions of batteries with solid-state electrolyte will also be more favourable from the point of view of the operation.

Another important advantage is that the new type of batteries will be able to take charge faster. For example, it will be possible to fully charge the traction batteries of an electric vehicle in ten minutes, providing hundreds of kilometres. Other companies are also looking towards batteries with solid-state electrolyte: Nissan Motor intends to bring electric vehicles based on them to the market by 2028, Volkswagen expects to establish their mass production by 2025, and Chinese companies will start investing in specialized developments next year.