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Nissan says it’s in a “class-leading position” to make the first batch of liquid-free, lower-cost solid-state batteries in 2025, with a brand new electric vehicle powered by said batteries slated for production in 2028.
The timeline comes from the company’s senior vice president for research and development in Europe, David Moss, who spoke with UK-based publication Autocar about the Japanese brand’s advancements in solid-state technology.
Nissan initially announced its involvement in the development of solid-state batteries for EVs back in 2021, when it said it will build a pilot facility where prototype cells would be made. One year later, prototype development was underway at the Nissan Research Center in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Now, the marque’s exec in Europe basically confirms the timeline for Autocar, saying that Nissan is on track to have pilot solid-state batteries in limited production by 2025, completed engineering in the initial technology by 2026, and the first mass-produced EV with the technology by 2028.
Additionally, Moss says Nissan is taking steps to further develop current lithium-ion battery technology, aiming to release the next generation of cells within the next couple of years, then in 2028 a cobalt-free one, which would reduce costs by as much as 65%.
In regards to solid-state cells, their advantages are obvious over currently-available batteries, starting with the tripling of charging speeds, getting close to a constant 400 kilowatts no matter the temperature, and continuing with double the energy density in the same physical space, all at half the cost. Nissan previously stated that its goal is to achieve a cost of $75 per kWh at the pack level by the fiscal year 2028 and $65 per kWh thereafter.
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Working in collaboration with scientists from the University of Oxford, Nissan engineers in Japan managed to go from small button-sized cells to larger, 10-centimeter square cells in the current stage of development, with the final cells’ size to be comparable to that of a laptop’s dimensions.
Moss added that the Japanese brand wants to completely remove the liquid elements from the battery, saying that this would greatly improve the efficiency in storage and power transfer.
“Can you delete the liquid electrolyte out of the battery? This is where we think we’re leading,” said Moss. “Some solid-state batteries still have the liquid electrolytes, and this is an issue, as that liquid boils. The efficiency of that energy in storage and transfer and the power you put into it will be impacted.”
Achieving all these goals ultimately means that future electric vehicles will be lighter, have more range, and be able to charge much more quickly, all while costing less (at least the batteries).
Nissan isn’t the only company out there dedicated to bringing solid-state batteries to the mass market, with StoreDot, SolidPower, Factorial, QuantumScape, and others working on their versions of the technology.