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Boost for EVs: Chinese carmaker Chery to begin testing solid-state batteries next year
Chairman says it plans to invest US$1.49 billion in the new battery technology over the next two years
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Daniel Renin Shanghai
Chery Automobile, China’s largest car exporter by deliveries, will begin testing its solid-state batteries next year, aiming to spearhead commercialisation of a technology likely to further spur the electrification of the global automotive industry.
Yin Tongyue, the chairman of the state-owned carmaker, which is based in central China’s Anhui province, said on Thursday that it would invest 10 billion yuan (US$1.49 billion) in the new battery technology over the next two years, with 1,200 engineers to be deployed in the hunt for innovative breakthroughs.
“Multiple [battery] technology plans are being laid out,” he told the World Power Battery Conference in Yibin, Sichuan province, the National Business Daily reported. “We will not install them in our vehicles unless they prove to be absolutely safe.”
He said the solid-state batteries to be tested next year would have an energy density of 400 watt-hours per kilogram, double that of the batteries used in existing electric vehicles (EVs).
Solid-state batteries, which use a solid electrolyte to conduct ions between electrodes, are widely seen as a superior alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries, which rely on liquid or gel-based materials. Analysts said the technology promised higher energy density, improved safety and longer driving range.
Even if the new tech gets mature, battery makers have to bring down the costs to make it affordable to consumers
But no solid-state batteries have been installed in mass-produced EVs.
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