Nissan announces the launch of a solid-state battery-powered car by 2028. An announcement that follows the start of a new prototype factory located inside the Nissan Research Center in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture. In practice, the manufacturer advertises a charging time divided by three and a doubled energy density. This drastically increases autonomy and reduces production costs.
At the moment
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Today, electric cars are becoming more and more successful and, above all, they are having a growing success, even surpassing diesel in France last December. While all manufacturers are developing their electric range, anticipating the 2035 deadline, there are still some points to improve to attract customers who are still resistant and make this engine suitable for everyone.
A promising technology
This particularly affects range, which remains one of the main obstacles for motorists, as well as price. Problems that are also linked while the cost of the battery represents around 40% of the car price. This is, in particular, the reason why some manufacturers, such as Ford or Renault, recommend the use of smaller batteries.
A strategy that allows limit lithium use, whose price increases and the supply decreases, so much so that some even fear a shortage. However, who says little battery says little autonomy. It is the snake that bites its tail. And this, even if a large battery is also not an ideal solution, due to the increased weight. But then how?
One of the solutions that manufacturers are considering is then the use of solid-state batteries. This very promising technology differs from conventional lithium batteries by the use of a solid electrolyte. Specifically, this system offers better energy density, multiplied by two. Which means that for the same size, more electricity is stored. This would be beneficial for weight and range, as well as cost less as Nissan announces a 50% reduction in costs.
The other big advantage of the solid-state battery is that it doesn’t need lithium or cobalt. Something to reassure about the risk of shortages, as Toyota points out, for example.
1000 km autonomy?
If we take the range of the Nissan Ariyra of 520 km, doubling the energy density would mean moving to a range of around 1,000 km in the WLTP combined cycle. It is then better than current models like the Zeekr 001 which tops out 1032 km, on the Chinese CLTC cycle with a heavy and bulky 140 kWh conventional lithium battery.
On paper, therefore, there are only pluses. However, Solid-state batteries remain difficult to mass-produce and very expensive to develop.. This does not prevent manufacturers from working on it, including Nissan, which is currently one of the most advanced in the matter. Asked by the British site carDavid Moss, vice president of research and development of Nissan in Europe, has rightly expressed himself in this regard.
Arrival before 2028
Then explain thata first car equipped with a solid battery should see the light of day in 2028. A date that may seem distant, but it is not so far, while specialists assured that this technology would not see the light of day for at least a decade. But before the arrival of this car, which could be prefigured by the recently presented Max-Out concept, there will be several stages.
The first will be the commissioning of the plant dedicated to the production of these cells from 2025. One year later, Nissan teams expect to have completed the study of this technology. Then it will be necessary to work on mass production, which is still a problem today. However, some companies are already well advanced, such as the start-up Solid Power that will test a new production line in partnership with BMW.
A recharge in 10 minutes
According to Nissan, this technology would significantly cut charging time in half, thanks to higher power from 130 to 400 kW. It is then the equivalent to that delivered by the Fastned and Circontrol terminals in Europe.
Especially if the maximum power is high, the average power should be drastically higher. As we explained in our file on the load curve. We would therefore go from 10 to 80% in about 10 minutes. Against 18 minutes for the best electric cars of the moment.
The first car equipped with solid batteries must then based on a new platformwhile the brand gives very little information at the moment.
Anyway, this is not the only one working on the development of this technology. In fact, this is also the case for BMW, Ford and Mercedes, among others. The star’s firm then signed a partnership with the ProLogium company, which could manufacture its solid-state batteries in France. But meanwhile, some equipment manufacturers are working on the design of semi-solid batteries, capable of reaching 80% in 10 minutes.
When testing the Nio ET7 electric car, we were able to test the battery swap system (Nio Power Swap Station) that allows the batteries to be “recharged” in five minutes. The result is…
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