China To Spend $830 Mn For Solid-State Battery R&D: Report

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China is planning to spend $830 million on all-solid-state battery R&D, reveals a report by Chinese Daily. Six companies, including CATL, BYD, China FAW Group, SAIC Motor Corp, Beijing WeLion New Energy Technology, and Geely Auto Group, will likely receive basic R&D support from the government, the report said.

Chinese Government departments are heading this programme, which will encourage qualified businesses to do R&D on technology relevant to solid-state batteries exclusively. After a rigorous screening process, the program is divided into seven categories focusing on different solid-state battery technology routes, including polymers and sulfides.

According to the report, nations all over the world are currently increasing their investments in all-solid-state batteries due to their potential for high energy density, safety, and cost-effectiveness. These batteries are also widely acknowledged as the development trend of next-generation power batteries.

This comes after the US announced a tariff hike on solar panels and battery from China. Compared with the billions of yuan of investment in basic R&D itself, the project will promote companies and industrial chain players to ramp up investment in all-solid-state battery R&D, the report said, citing unnamed industry sources.

This has the potential to boost a market worth RMB trillion yuan, injecting new momentum into the global green transition and worldwide sustainable development, the source said.

According to a report by BloombergNEF, Global battery manufacturing capacity was more than twice that, at close to 2,600 GWh while China’s battery production in 2023 alone was similar to global demand.

In related news, Tesla announced earlier this month that it will be setting up a factory with the goal of starting production in the first quarter of 2025. It will have the capacity to produce 10,000 Megapacks annually, which are extremely large batteries used to store massive amounts of electricity.