The Nepal Weekly 
August 15, 2023
To replace fossil fuel vehicles by electric vehicles have been a success in the world market. The automobile market cannot be thought without prioritizing EVs. However, the charging time for the batteries have been a desire for all to shorten. According to the recent development, the world is soon to get Solid State Batteries which provide desirable qualities – short time to full charge, higher density of energy storage and longer durability. Moreover, the new product has been expected to be even cheaper in comparison to existing batteries.
Toyota, the world’s second largest carmaker is in the lead position in Solid State Batteries for EVs to deliver bye year 2025.
Toyota was already pursuing a plan to roll out cars with advanced solid-state-batteries, which offer benefits compared with liquid-based batteries, by 2025. Little more than a month ago Toyota had said that it has made a technological breakthrough that will allow it to halve the weight, size and cost of batteries, in what could herald a major advance for electric vehicles. Also mentioned that it had simplified production of the material used to make them, hailing the discovery as a significant leap forward that could dramatically cut charging times and increase driving range.
The company expects to be able to manufacture solid-state batteries for use in electric vehicles as soon as 2027, according to the Financial Times, which first reported on Toyota’s claimed breakthrough.
Solid-state batteries have been widely seen as a potential gamechanger for electric vehicles, promising to reduce charging times, increase capacity and reduce the fire risk associated with lithium-ion batteries, which use a liquid electrolyte.
Theoretically, a solid-state battery deploys solid-state technology using solid electrodes and a solid electrolytes, instead of the liquid or polymer gel electrolytes found in lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries.
While solid electrolytes were first discovered in the 19th century, several drawbacks have prevented widespread application. Developments in the late 20th and early 21st century have caused renewed interest in solid-state battery technologies, especially in the context of electric vehicles, that happened 2010 onwards.
Solid-state technology batteries can provide potential solutions for many problems of liquid Li-ion batteries, such as flammability, limited voltage, unstable solid-electrolyte interphase formation, poor cycling performance and strength.
Materials proposed for use as solid electrolytes in solid-state batteries include ceramics (e.g., oxides, sulfides, phosphates), and solid polymers. Solid-state batteries have found use in pacemakers, RFID, and wearable devices. Solid-state technology used in these batteries is potentially safer, with higher energy densities, but at a much higher cost. Challenges to widespread adoption include energy and power density, durability, material costs, sensitivity and stability.
Between 1831 and 1834, Michael Faraday discovered the solid electrolytes sliver sulfide and lead (II) fluoride, which laid the foundation for solid-state ionics. As technology advanced into the new millennium, researchers and companies in the automotive and transportation industries experienced revitalized interest in solid-state battery technologies. In 2011, Bolloré launched a fleet of their BlueCar model cars, first in cooperation with carsharing service Autolib, and later released to retail customers. The car was meant to showcase the company’s diversity of electric-powered cells in the application, and featured a 30 kWh lithium metal polymer (LMP) battery with a polymeric electrolyte, created by dissolving lithium salt in a co-polymer (polyoxyethylene). (Agencies)
