In the global battle for solid-state batteries, who is better?

Competition in the solid-state battery market is becoming increasingly fierce. The three major camps of China, Japan, South Korea, and Europe and the United States are facing each other. Each major camp has its own focus on technical routes and development levels. It is still unknown who can occupy the commanding heights.

Japan and South Korea: R&D started early, tending to sulfide all-solid-state batteries

Japan started early in the research and development of solid-state battery technology, especially in the cutting-edge field of sulfide solid electrolytes. Sulfide electrolytes have become one of the strong candidates for all-solid-state batteries due to their high ionic conductivity and good mechanical properties. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Panasonic, etc. all regard sulfide solid-state batteries as their main research and development directions.

Among them, Toyota is particularly outstanding, with more than 1,300 patents related to solid-state battery technology, ranking first in the world.

Although sulfide solid electrolyte technology has many advantages, challenges cannot be ignored, including poor thermal stability, sensitivity to moisture, complex high-temperature preparation processes, compatibility issues with cathode materials, and high cost. These challenges have led Toyota to postpone mass production plans for all-solid-state batteries from 2027 to beyond 2030.

Despite this, Toyota still insists on the research and development of sulfide solid-state batteries, which may be related to the Japanese government's strong support for this technology. Relevant information shows that Japan is betting on the sulfide route and has the earliest R&D layout. The government has invested more than 200 billion yen in financial support. The goal is to commercialize all-solid-state batteries in 2030 with an energy density of 500Wh/kg.

It is worth mentioning that companies such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan have not only invested heavily in the research and development of solid-state battery technology, but also participated in the production of complete vehicles, giving them unique advantages in the integration of battery technology and vehicle performance. By integrating battery R&D and vehicle manufacturing, these companies can more effectively optimize the overall performance of electric vehicles and improve their competitiveness.

While South Korea's R&D strategy in the field of solid-state batteries focuses on sulfide technology, it also conducts technical research and reserves on oxide and polymer systems. This multi-path parallel strategy may be to avoid over-reliance on a single technology path, or it may be to achieve better system adaptation during the transitional stage of battery technology.

In terms of mass production plans, Samsung SDI plans to start mass production of all-solid-state batteries in 2027, SK On aims to commercialize solid-state batteries in 2028, and LG New Energy expects to achieve mass production of all-solid-state batteries in 2030.

Europe and the United States: Mainly start-ups, adopting a variety of technical routes

In the United States, the development of solid-state battery technology is mainly driven by start-ups, such as Solid Power, Quantum Scape, Factorial Energy, lonic Materials, etc., which have layouts in sulfides, oxides and polymers.

It is reported that the development of solid-state batteries is divided into three stages: preliminary proof of concept (Sample A), testing close to the final product (Sample B), and customer-approved samples that meet specific requirements (Sample C).

Solid Power has produced A samples in 2023 and delivered them to BMW for testing, and plans to enter the A-2 sample stage this year; QuantumScape will begin sending A0 samples to customers in the second quarter of 2023, and Factorial Energy battery products have also entered the A sample phase. sample stage. SES AI Corporation signed a lithium metal battery A sample agreement with car companies as early as 2021, and also signed a lithium metal battery B sample agreement in December 2023.

In addition, Mullen Automotive, a start-up in Southern California, has taken an important step towards the practical use of solid-state batteries, announcing that its solid-state battery technology has advanced from the laboratory to the road testing stage. Test results show that compared with traditional batteries, the vehicle's cruising range is significantly increased.

European automakers such as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have accelerated the development of solid-state battery technology, mainly by investing in U.S. startups. For example, Volkswagen invested in QuantumScape, making it the largest shareholder; BMW and Ford invested in Solid Power, which plans to develop corresponding battery-matching BMW prototypes in 2025; Mercedes-Benz invested in Factorial Energy, and the two parties also reached a cooperation to jointly develop Solid state batteries.

China: Focusing on the oxide electrolyte route, planning production capacity to exceed 400GWh

The main layout players of domestic solid-state batteries include established battery companies, start-ups backed by top scientific research institutes, upstream raw material companies, and automobile companies. According to incomplete statistics from TrendForce Lithium Battery, domestic solid-state companies are actively developing production capacity layout for solid-state batteries. The planned production capacity will exceed 400GWh, and the project investment will exceed 200 billion yuan.

The main research and development direction of Weilan New Energy, Qingtao Energy, Ganfeng Lithium Industry, Huineng Technology, Lishen Battery, Shandong Jinqihang and other companies is the solid-liquid mixing technology route based on oxide materials.

Weilan New Energy was established in August 2016. It is the only industrialization platform for solid-state battery technology in the Clean Energy Laboratory of the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, with a planned production capacity of more than 100GWh. The company's 360Wh/kg lithium battery cells will be officially delivered to Weilai in June 2023, and it is expected to achieve mass production of all-solid-state batteries around 2027.

Qingtao Energy was also founded in 2016, led by the team of Nan Cewen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University. It is one of the first solid-state battery companies in China to achieve mass production and delivery. The company has established cooperation with many car companies such as SAIC and Beiqi Foton, and the first-generation solid-state battery has completed vehicle testing. The company’s production capacity is planned to be 55GWh.

Ganfeng Lithium Battery, a subsidiary of Ganfeng Lithium Industry, focuses on the research, development and production of solid-state batteries. Ganfeng Lithium Battery has delivered electric vehicles equipped with solid-state batteries to Dongfeng Motor and plans to achieve mass production of solid-state batteries in the next few years. In 2024, Ganfeng Lithium Battery Liangjiang Base has delivered more than 1,000 solid-state batteries. The company's production capacity is planned to be nearly 60GWh.

Huineng Technology was established in Taiwan, China in 2006. At the beginning of this year, Huineng Technology announced that the world's first solid-state battery production line has been officially put into production. Its solid-state batteries use lithium ceramic battery technology, can achieve a range of 1,000 kilometers after charging for 12 minutes, and have a charge-discharge cycle life of more than 1,000 times. Battery samples have been sent to major new energy vehicle companies for testing and module development.

In addition, there are also many companies focusing on sulfide technology routes, such as Enli Power, Zhongke Solid Energy, High Energy Era, etc.

Among them, Zhongke Solid Energy was co-founded by the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Liyang Municipal Government in October 2022. By building a vertical product chain from sulfur-based electrolytes to electrolyte membranes, electrode membranes, and then to battery cells, it has successfully overcome the solid-state The battery industry faces technical difficulties such as high electrolyte costs and sulfur-based compounds that easily react with air. The team of its chairman, founder Professor Wu Fan, has made great achievements in the field of sulfide solid electrolyte material research.

CATL also deploys sulfide solid-state batteries, but its condensed matter batteries are more widely known. The energy density of condensed matter batteries is as high as 500Wh/kg, which is equivalent to solid-state batteries. CATL plans to start mass production of automotive grade condensed matter batteries by the end of the year.

Semi-solid batteries are being loaded into vehicles one after another, and the countdown to full solid-state batteries is on the road.

Semi-solid-state battery technology has taken an important step towards mass production. Dongfeng Motor, Cyrus, NIO, SAIC, etc. have already launched related products on the market. At present, NIO's 150kWh semi-solid battery has been mass-produced and installed in vehicles, and SAIC's Zhiji L6 equipped with Qingtao Energy's semi-solid battery has also entered the stage of large-scale mass production.

As the ultimate goal of the electric vehicle industry, all-solid-state batteries face a series of difficulties in mass production, including the low ionic conductivity of solid electrolytes, solid-solid interface stability, application challenges of metallic lithium anodes, and high costs. These challenges need to be solved through material innovation, process improvement and industry chain collaboration.

Despite the challenges, everyone is still moving forward with all their strength. GAC Group has proposed that all-solid-state batteries will be installed in vehicles in 2026. Changan and Hyundai are expected to gradually mass-produce solid-state batteries in 2027. Nissan and Dongfeng Motor will launch all-solid-state battery mass-produced vehicles in 2028. BMW and Toyota are expected to achieve full-scale mass production by 2030. Mass production of solid-state batteries. In general, everyone is working towards the industrialization breakthrough of all-solid-state batteries around 2030.

The development of technology usually follows a clear trajectory starting from theoretical exploration, through laboratory verification, to product development, and finally to commercialization. Just as electric vehicles were difficult to popularize ten years ago due to their high cost, but have now become a cost-effective option, the cost problem of solid-state batteries is expected to be solved in the future as technology advances.

According to TrendForce Consulting’s predictions, as car manufacturers accelerate investment and research and development in solid-state batteries, all-solid-state batteries equipped with highly active positive and negative electrode materials are expected to begin mass production around 2030 to 2035, by which time the energy density of lithium batteries can reach 500 Wh. /kg, the corresponding cruising range is about 2 to 3 times that of liquid lithium batteries, which is equal to the cruising range of fuel vehicles.

This outlook highlights the potential of solid-state battery technology. Although we are currently unable to specifically determine when solid-state batteries will be commercially available on a large scale, what we need to do now is to make technical reserves, lay the groundwork, and wait for the opportunity to come.