Capable of providing faster charging and significantly longer range, solid state batteries are considered to be the next chapter in the development of electric cars.
Toyota is one of my companies investing in this technology. However, the head of the company’s electrification strategy and powertrains, Tibo Pake, said last December that the technology would debut on a hybrid rather than a purely electric vehicle. Hot Tires.
Toyota’s chief scientist and head of Toyota’s research institute, Jill Pratt, reiterated that the first car of the Japanese brand with a solid-state battery will also have an internal combustion engine. He added that the development is progressing according to plan, so that the first model that will give up lithium-ion batteries will arrive in the first half of this decade. Since it is already January 2022, that means that the vehicle in question will be on the market in three years at the latest.
Someone will ask questions, why are hybrids a priority for Toyota and not electric cars? Jill Pratt admits that this seems a bit “counterintuitive” at first glance, but his explanation makes perfect sense. With the current “electric” offer, which is still “premium” compared to gasoline equivalents in terms of price, the installation of solid-state batteries in electric cars will make them even more expensive. Costs are likely to go down by 2025, but not enough to make electric cars with solid-state batteries commercially viable.
For this reason, Toyota will apply this promising technology first to hybrid models, because the batteries they use are smaller, and therefore will not have such a negative impact on vehicle prices. The company also sees hybrids as a good testing ground for new technology, as discharge and charge cycles are more pronounced, Jill Pratt explains. Hybrids provide more rigorous testing of the new generation of batteries, which will be installed in electric vehicles as soon as their price is commercially justified.
Of course, new technology will also find a place in Toyota’s high-performance models, probably within the Lexus division, such as the Electrified Sport concept in the form of a sleek, aerodynamic coupe with a range of 700 kilometers and a speed of up to 100 in about two seconds.
source: Toyota
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