(VitalNews.org) – Car manufacturing giant Toyota has promised an incredible technological advance that could prove a massive boon to the development of electric vehicles. The second largest carmaker in the world has revealed a plan to halve the size, weight, and cost of its electric vehicle batteries after achieving a breakthrough in solid-state battery technology.
Solid-state batteries offer certain advantages over more traditional liquid-state, or lithium-ion, batteries. They contain a solid electrolyte which allows them to recharge faster, weigh less, and offer a larger range per charge.
Keiji Kaita, who heads up the company’s research and development center for carbon neutrality claimed that Toyota has sufficiently improved the battery production process for both liquid and solid-state batteries and will be able to tackle the issues of size, weight, and cost for both.
Toyota’s ambitious goals include utilizing its innovative solid-state battery in an electric vehicle by 2027 at the very latest. This comes after only recently declaring its intention to offer hybrid cars, but not electric cars, featuring a solid-state battery by 2025. Kaita explained that this sudden leap in ambition came after a developmental breakthrough that has allowed the company to remedy durability issues it previously encountered with the batteries.
Despite the Japanese car maker being a pioneer in the field of car hybrids, the Toyota Prius, which was released in 1997, has been criticized for lagging behind others in the development of electric vehicles. This announcement, however, has been received with a great deal of excitement and hope. Professor David Bailey, of business economics at the University of Birmingham, even called this development “the Holy Grail” of car batteries, should Toyota be able to follow through with its promises.
If Toyota can meet its solid-state battery goal, it would mean an electric vehicle with a range of 745 miles and a charging time of just 10 minutes. It would also be a simpler battery to manufacture than the current liquid-state version, and would even reduce the risk of fire.
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