What are Solid State Batteries and why are they so important future of Electric Vehicles

Image Credit: CleanTechnica

Context

To hit the magic number of $100 per kWh for a battery which the industry believes will be a tipping point for mass EV adoption and therefore scale up the production of EV’s

It is believed the current lithium-ion battery technology has reached it’s potential in terms technological efficiency and therefore economic efficiency.

What is a Solid State Battery?

• Solid-state batteries replace the liquid or polymer electrolyte found in current lithium-ion batteries with a solid. Therefore require less space.
• This means solid state batteries can pack more density and aren’t as bulky
• The solid state battery still works in the same way a lithium-ion would work but the change in materials bring many benefits.

Benefit of a Solid State Battery?

• Increased density means they carry more power (for EV’s this means longer range). They can pack upto twice as much energy as lithium ion batteries
• Solid state electrolytes are less reactive than liquid/gel electrolytes found in lithium -ion. Therefore they are less prone to degradation and will last longer.
• Solid state batteries are much safer for the same reason as above. They are not as reactive.