Anyone with a viable solid-state battery that can outperform lithium-ion technology could dominate the entire electric vehicle battery market, which is worth about $84 billion by 2025, according to UBS Group AG, up from about $230 billion currently. One hundred million U.S. dollars.

　　January 8 news, according to foreign media reports, in order to provide a cheaper, safer electric vehicle that can travel 800 kilometers on a full charge, the automotive industry needs to make a breakthrough in battery technology. However, achieving such a breakthrough is often easier said than done.

　　Scientists in China, Japan and the United States are working to find ways to significantly increase the power storage capacity of batteries and make electric vehicles have a range similar to that of a full tank of gas, which requires the help of solid-state battery technology. This technology requires a major overhaul of the internal structure of the battery, using solid materials instead of flammable liquids for charging and discharging purposes.

　　The technology promises to be a breakthrough with significant improvements to existing lithium-ion battery packs. Many automakers say lithium-ion batteries are reaching their limits of storing power and may never have enough power for long-range models.

　　If successful, solid-state battery technology could help hasten the demise of the internal combustion engine car and potentially reduce charging time for electric vehicles from a few hours to about 10 minutes. The Supercharger network built by Tesla Inc. now offers faster charging, but it still takes about 30 minutes to charge a depleted car to 80%.

　　“We don’t see another way to do this without solid-state battery technology,” said Ted Miller, senior manager of energy storage strategy and research at Ford Motor Co. in Detroit. “I can’t predict right now. Who's going to commercialize it?" Ford has researched a variety of technologies aimed at delivering more powerful electric vehicle batteries.

　　Currently, the best prototypes using solid-state batteries are only powerful enough to propel a single-passenger car across a Toyota Motor Corp. parking lot near Japan's Mount Fuji. Automakers such as Daimler AG and Fisker AG, China's lithium giant, France's Total SA and subsidiaries of MIT and Stanford University are all working to complete the project. this task.

　　Fisker could begin vehicle testing of its batteries as early as this year, while Toyota and Daimler have extended testing timelines into the 2020s.

　　The stakes are high. The adoption of electric vehicles is expected to drive rapid growth in lithium-ion batteries, the leading alternative to internal combustion engines. The latest report from BloombergNEF found that 44 gigawatt hours of lithium-ion batteries were used in electric buses and passenger cars in 2017. This demand is expected to soar to more than 1,500 gigawatt hours per year by 2030.

　　Anyone with a viable solid-state battery that can surpass lithium-ion technology could dominate the entire electric vehicle battery market, which is worth about $84 billion by 2025, according to UBS Group AG, which currently is valued at approximately US$23 billion.

　　The support solid-state batteries need to succeed

　　Lithium-ion battery technology, a standard used in cellphones and personal electronics for decades and making its way into electric vehicles and grid energy storage, uses liquid electrolytes to shuttle ions between an anode and cathode to charge or discharge the battery. Solid batteries, as the name suggests, use solid materials such as ceramics, glass or polymers to replace liquids.

　　This should reduce the risk of battery fires and allow batteries to be thinner and smaller so they can fit under car seats. Researchers also hope to match solid electrolytes with lithium metal anodes to increase energy density and enable electric vehicles to travel longer distances without stopping to recharge. This could help spur sales by allaying consumer concerns about running out of power mid-cycle.

　　To do this, a series of difficult problems need to be solved. The prototype's current battery range is too short for a car, and the batteries are poorly conductive and cost-effective, with the material sometimes expanding and contracting dramatically when charging or discharging.

　　YasuoI Shihero, managing director of Japan's Lithium-ion Battery Technology and Evaluation Center (LIBTEC), said that when scientists solve one problem, they often exacerbate the other. A consortium of 25 companies, including Toyota, Panasonic and Nissan, has received about $90 million in government funding to speed up research and development.

　　"Across all the players, it seems like everyone has addressed one or two or three of the five most important things," said Henrik Fisker, chairman and CEO of Fisker. , but no one has really solved all the problems.”

　　China's Qingdao New Energy Research Institute will conduct solid-state battery vehicle trials within two years and consider commercializing them by 2025. China's largest battery manufacturer, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., has included solid-state battery technology in its advanced battery research scope.

　　South Korea's Samsung SDI, SK Innovation and Hyundai Motor Co said they are also working on the technology. UK-based appliance maker Dyson Ltd., which is now targeting electric vehicles, is also working on the technology.

　　"For passenger cars, we should see prototypes in the early 2020s," said Andreas Hintennach, Daimler's head of battery research in Stuttgart, Germany. Last month, the automakers behind brands including Mercedes-Benz agreed to order $23 billion in contemporary lithium-ion batteries by 2030.

　　Volkswagen AG plans to start trial production with partner Quantumscape as early as 2022. Those timelines may prove optimistic.

　　“It’s actually a brutal battleground where everyone is trying to make these batteries viable,” said industry consultant Sam Jaffe, managing director of Boulder Energy Research Advisors in Colorado. It works, but no one is close to that yet.”

　　Solid-state batteries with all the promised benefits won't be available until the late 2020s, said James Frith, an analyst at BNEF in London. Even then, they could still be very expensive.

　　Tesla said it talks frequently with developers and reviews battery prototypes but has not seen any battery technology that is better than existing lithium-ion battery packs. A Tesla Model S can travel 539 kilometers after being fully charged. Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel once said: "We have tried our best, we are all ears, we would like to find it, but we have not succeeded yet."

　　Tesla supplier Panasonic said the company is continuing to work on solid-state battery technology but "many obstacles remain to commercialization."

　　Toyota's breakthrough potential

　　The best hope for a breakthrough in solid-state battery technology lies with Toyota, according to competitors, academics and patent data.

　　Asia's largest automaker has at least 233 patents or applications related to solid-state battery technology, nearly three times as many as its nearest rival, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis. Toyota's annual report released in October 2018 showed that the company will invest 1.5 trillion yen ($13.9 billion) in the battery business and plans to commercialize solid-state battery technology in the early 2020s.

　　Over the past decade, Toyota has deployed as many as 200 employees, mainly at its Higashibashi-Fuji Research Center near Mount Fuji, to conduct research and development. The company had made great progress in using solid-state batteries to power digital clocks, two-wheeled scooters and conveyor belts, then tested the technology on a modified version of its COMS, a single-seat low-speed vehicle.

　　Hiroshi Ishiguro, a former Toyota manager at LIBTEC, said the car is more of an incentive for researchers than a mode of transportation.

　　Ford's Miller said Toyota's main challengers are likely to be a group of U.S. start-ups as many existing EV battery makers focus on increasing production and reducing costs. With this possibility in mind, Volkswagen spent $100 million last year to acquire

　　Ford's Miller said Toyota's main challengers are likely to be a group of U.S. start-ups as many existing EV battery makers focus on boosting production and cutting costs. With this possibility in mind, Volkswagen spent $100 million to increase its stake in Quantumscape last year. Quantumscape was created by former Stanford University researchers and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

　　Woburn, Mass.-based Ionic Material said Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy and the venture, which includes automakers Renault SA, Nissan and Mitsubishi Corp. Investment funds are its supporters.

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