At least, that’s what the automaker’s claiming; its pilot assembly line starts up January 2025, with a mainstream roll-out set for the late 2020s
- Honda will start turning out solid-state batteries from a pilot production line in January 2025
- The tech, considered a holy grail for EVs, would permit much higher energy densities
- Honda hopes to make it viable by the end of this decade, and says it could double EV ranges
One of the main hurdles for many customers considering an all-electric vehicle is the total driving range available – or lack thereof – on a fully charged battery. The distance of roughly 450 kilometres seems to be a pretty good baseline these days, at least without installing enormous batteries the size of Vancouver Island (ahem, Chevrolet Silverado EV, ahem).
Numerous companies have been working on so-called solid-state batteries, units which do a much better job in the field of energy density than the technology currently available, such as liquid-state lithium-ion batteries. This week, researchers from Honda outlined their desires in this arena, hoping to use solid-state tech to double the range of the automaker’s EVs by the end of this decade.
Over the next five years, Honda hopes to cut battery sizes in half while chopping at least 25% of the cost from the things. Basic math tells us doubling the energy density of a battery and halving its size means a company could package a much smaller and lighter battery into an EV without sacrificing any range; or, as would likely be preferred in this market, retain the approximate size of today’s cells whilst cranking total driving range to 900 kilometres or more.
This would handsomely address concerns about range anxiety, especially if cost and weight are kept under control. Toss in a charging capability that’s at least as good as what is on the market today, and it is likely electric vehicles would become more appealing to a wider variety of shoppers. Of course, EVs aren’t right for everyone, no matter the range or recharge stats — the quicker car companies and governments get that through their heads, the better off we’ll all be.
Honda is open to sharing the tech for a price, saying it has “no reason to refuse” the external sale of its solid-state batteries if such a path is mutually beneficial to it and its partners.
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