Solid-state batteries enter the final battle

Solid-state batteries are always brought up to attract attention every once in a while. So far, no company has started mass production of solid-state batteries for installation in cars. Although the industry generally expects solid-state batteries to be mass-produced in 2030, all car companies hope to be the first to mass-produce and install them on cars.

Last week, Solid Power, a battery startup backed by Ford, reached a new milestone when it officially began pilot production of solid-state batteries for testing by BMW and Ford.

The company unveiled a fully operational production line at its Colorado headquarters, aiming to produce solid-state batteries that can provide a longer range, 50% higher than traditional lithium-ion batteries, and to ship the first batch of solid-state batteries to BMW and Ford before the end of the year.

In fact, although the Colorado company has now established a pilot production line to provide verification samples to automakers, it is still looking for manufacturing partners. It will not be able to start producing solid-state batteries until 2026 at the earliest, and mass production and installation in 2027.

Doug Campbell, CEO and co-founder of Solid Power, acknowledged the fierce competition in solid-state battery development between groups such as Toyota, Panasonic, Samsung, LG Energy Solutions, Hyundai and CATL. But this will be a positive force in promoting the rapid mass production of this field. They are all very prominent and credible players.

“Hardcore Energy”

The core difference between solid-state batteries and liquid batteries is that solid electrolytes are used to replace diaphragms and electrolytes, providing more options for positive and negative electrodes.

Like most such companies, Solid Power's batteries use sulfide solid electrolytes, the medium through which lithium ions flow between the positive and negative electrodes during charging and discharging. Compared with batteries using liquid electrolytes, batteries using solid electrolytes have a much lower risk of catching fire due to internal short circuits, which means they are safer.

When it comes to the pain points of pure electric vehicles, we have to mention short battery life, flammability and explosion, slow charging, fear of both cold and heat, and shorter battery life as the vehicle is driven for a long time. The core of the problem lies in the internal chemical system of the battery.

Solid Power's batteries, which currently use a silicon-rich anode and a nickel-cobalt-manganese cathode, have the potential to store more energy -- giving electric vehicles longer range -- and cost less than traditional lithium-ion batteries, Campbell said. Another benefit is higher energy density at a lower price.

Campbell and his solid-state battery company have established themselves after serving as CEO of Solid Power for the past decade. The company went public in 2021 through a reverse merger (SPAC), attracting early investments from Hyundai and Samsung in addition to Ford and BMW.

Hopeful yet elusive

Automakers naturally hope that solid-state batteries can provide greater range, so a 50% increase in range over current traditional lithium-ion batteries is an attractive condition.

Additionally, Campbell said the temperatures in Solid Power's special solid-state mixture are very stable, reducing the need for certain cooling aspects, thereby reducing overall battery costs by 10%.

“This contributes to the overall value proposition of improving performance and reducing cost, which is a pain point in the battery market today,” Campbell said.

Building a prototype production line isn’t Solid Power’s only major project. Nearby, the company is constructing a massive factory the size of a football field in Thornton, a suburb north of Denver, where Solid Power intends to produce enough electrolyte to power 800,000 electric vehicles by 2028.

Such scale is an ambitious goal, one shared by any number of competitors in the battery space, but one that is both promising and elusive for this emerging solid-state technology.

According to consulting firm P&S Intelligence, the global solid-state battery market had revenue of $290 million in 2021 and is expected to grow to $3.9 billion by 2030. Solid-state battery technology is tantamount to "the future of electric transportation."

But this is a goal that is slowly being achieved.

Time and Patience

It will still take some time for the technology to mature, everyone knows this will be the future, but the future keeps being unveiled.

While solid-state batteries offer higher energy density, faster charging times and fewer flammable chemicals, they are also fragile. As automakers pin their hopes on Solid Power and rival companies, the durability of solid-state batteries remains an unknown.

Can they be scaled up in manufacturing? Can they stay on the road for 10 years and 200,000 miles? Geurkink said. “I don’t know.”

Solid Power may be further along than most in providing a viable answer. In addition to launching its own prototype production line, the company has signed a joint development agreement with South Korea's SK Innovation to manufacture batteries. The terms of the deal require Solid Power to license its technology and manufacturing practices.

Campbell said the manufacturing process will be the key to Solid Power's success. Not every battery replacement will come at a huge cost. Solid Power is designing its manufacturing routes to match today's lithium-ion batteries in an effort to make its products compatible with today's super factories.

Solid Power has also designed a solid-state battery that is compatible with the current lithium-ion manufacturing process. This is a big leap forward, because one of the main reasons for the current inability to mass produce is that the production process of solid-state batteries is different from that of liquid batteries, and there is currently no equipment manufacturer that can stably supply solid-state battery production lines. Considering the construction of the production line and the development cycle of power batteries, there is little hope for mass production in the short term. However, Solid Power's solid-state battery manufacturing process compatibility means that many factories can smoothly switch to solid-state batteries without the need to upgrade the production line on a large scale while innovating the battery.

"From a manufacturing perspective, we're not reinventing the wheel, with some very modest modifications, the gigafactories that make lithium-ion batteries today can switch to solid-state very smoothly," Campbell said. "I don't want to compete with those factories, I want to enable them and have them join us."

Of course, the success of solid-state batteries, which contain high-content silicon anodes, sulfide solid electrolytes, and nickel, manganese, and cobalt cathodes, could lift the shackles off. Future products now in development could eliminate the need for nickel and cobalt, which are currently in short supply due to various political and national factors.

If it’s a long-term project, the industry needs to get used to being patient. “We want to take our time to de-risk the technology,” Campbell said.

As the economy gradually picks up, the strategy of transforming existing factories together with key partners, with electrolyte facilities being built and production lines now producing batteries, has become a design route for a "painless" transition to solid-state batteries.

At present, some people still question whether solid-state battery technology is more hype. However, some analysts still believe that if this technology is really successful, by 2030, it can largely replace ternary lithium batteries and become the most advanced battery technology in the industry. Whether Solid Power can become a pioneer in solid-state batteries or trial and error will have to wait until 2026, but solid-state batteries seem to be the future of the promising yet elusive "electric transportation".