Toyota’s Big Bet On Advanced Solid-State Batteries

Toyota announced on Tuesday its plans to incorporate high-performance solid-state batteries and other advanced technologies into their future electric vehicles (EVs) to improve driving range and reduce costs. For the Japanese and global auto major, solid state batteries have formed the lynchpin of a future push outside non-ICE vehicles with a technology and materials it has better control over. Toyota has been snapping up patents and technologies linked to solid state batteries over the past three years and more.

The comprehensive technology roadmap presented by the Japanese automaker encompasses various areas such as next-generation battery development and a radical redesign of their factories. This marks Toyota’s most detailed disclosure of its strategy to compete in the rapidly growing EV market, where it has been trailing behind rivals, such as Tesla.

The announcement comes just ahead of the annual shareholders meeting, during which governance and strategy, including the company’s slow transition to battery EVs under former CEO Akio Toyoda, would be closely examined.

Toyota aims to launch next-generation lithium-ion batteries by 2026 that will offer extended driving ranges and faster charging capabilities. The company also highlighted a ‘technological breakthrough’ that addresses durability issues in solid-state batteries. Toyota is currently developing methods for mass-producing these batteries, with plans for commercialization between 2027 and 2028.

Solid-state batteries can store more energy compared to current liquid electrolyte batteries. Automakers and analysts anticipate that this technology will expedite the transition to EVs by addressing a key consumer concern: limited driving range.

However, solid-state batteries are currently expensive and are expected to remain so for several years. To mitigate this, Toyota will also leverage high-performing lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are a more affordable alternative to lithium-ion batteries and have contributed to the widespread adoption of EVs in China, the world’s largest vehicle market.

Furthermore, Toyota announced its intention to produce an EV with a more efficient lithium-ion battery at the high end of the market, offering a remarkable range of 1,000 km (621 miles). In comparison, the long-range version of Tesla’s lithium-ion-powered Model Y, the best-selling EV worldwide, has a range of approximately 530 km based on U.S. standards.

According to Toyota, an EV equipped with a solid-state battery would have a range of 1,200 km and a charging time of just 10 minutes. In contrast, Tesla’s Supercharger network, the largest of its kind, provides approximately 321 km of charge in 15 minutes.

While Toyota did not disclose specific costs or investment requirements for these plans, the company’s engineers have been considering a revamp of their EV strategy since last year to enhance competitiveness. The roadmap presented on Tuesday indicates that under the leadership of new CEO Koji Sato, Toyota has embraced many of the innovative measures that engineers and planners have been developing over the past months. This includes adopting electric-axle technology and other solutions from suppliers like Aisin and Denso.

Takero Kato, president of Toyota’s new EV unit BEV Factory, expressed the company’s goal of shaping the future with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in a video posted on the automaker’s YouTube channel.

Counter-offensive to the competition

Toyota also announced its plans to develop a dedicated electric vehicle (EV) platform and a highly automated assembly line, aiming to reduce costs and revolutionize traditional auto production methods. The company intends to replace the conveyor belt system, which has been in use since Henry Ford’s time, with a groundbreaking “self-propelling” assembly line, where cars in production would autonomously navigate through the manufacturing process.

In addition to this innovation, Toyota plans to incorporate Giga casting into its manufacturing process, inspired by Tesla’s pioneering work. Giga casting involves the use of large-scale aluminium casting machines to simplify vehicle construction and decrease production expenses.

Toyota’s newly established BEV Factory, which was launched in May, aims to manufacture approximately 1.7 million electric vehicles by 2030. This production capacity constitutes about half of Toyota’s target of selling 3.5 million EVs annually by the same year.

April marked a significant milestone for Toyota, as it sold 8,584 EVs globally, including those under its Lexus brand. This figure accounted for more than 1 per cent of the company’s global sales within a single month, marking the first time Toyota achieved such a feat.

In 2022, Toyota sold nearly 10.5 million vehicles and currently holds a market value of approximately $254 billion. Comparatively, despite selling only a fraction of the vehicles, Tesla’s market value stands at around $791 billion, reflecting investor confidence in Tesla’s potential for future growth.

 

Toyota has consistently emphasized its commitment to providing consumers with a range of new-energy vehicle options, which include petrol-electric hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells, and battery EVs. Solid-state battery technology has the potential to be a game-changer for the electric vehicles. In addition to being much safer, they potential for energy densities approximately twice that of conventional lithium-ion batteries. Other merits like shorter charging time due to superior charge/discharge performance and lower cost realised by using less expensive materials make solid-state batteries the prime technology that could compete with, if not replace, lithium ion batteries and their shortcomings. Solid-state batteries are being promoted by several big names and Toyota’s recent announcement aligns with the industry’s accelerated transition away from traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.