If you’re going to make automotive history, you’d better do it in style. Mercedes has become the first automaker in the world to ever put a solid-state battery into a car and drive it. The race for solid-state EVs was starting to look like an expensive exercise in futility.
- Divisions
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Mercedes-Benz Cars, Mercedes-Benz Vans
- Founded
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1926
- Founder
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Karl Benz
- Headquarters
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Stuttgart, Germany
- Current CEO
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Ola Källenius
Solid-state batteries had seemed incredibly promising in the early days of research, but after more than a decade, all the various laboratory test results, press photographs, and ambitious announcements seemed like nothing more than pointless noise. But Mercedes managed the previously impossible and actually bolted a solid-state battery onto a working EV and made it drive on its own power. Indeed, after doing enough laps to be photographed from every good angle, Mercedes’ EQS concept EV may have more miles on it than some trailer-ferried supercars.
To give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturers and other authoritative sources.
Mercedes Just Made The World’s First Solid-State EV
Almost a decade and a half has passed since Toyota first announced that it was attempting to develop solid-state batteries for EVs. However, in all this time, no one had managed to actually make a solid-state battery power a car. It was starting to look like solid-state batteries would never get into cars. It was easy to suspect that car-sized solid-state batteries would only ever work in carefully-controlled laboratory conditions.
However, Mercedes has proven that solid-state batteries can actually work in the real world. The German automaker installed a solid-state battery into a fully-functional car. Even though many concept cars only drive in limp mode for a few short minutes, the EQS got up to actual road speeds. Of course, Mercedes restricted the world’s first solid-state EV to very well-paved and photogenic roads, but the company was proving its solid-state battery and not its ability to weather potholes.
Mercedes Didn’t Develop Its Battery Alone
Mercedes didn’t develop a car-sized solid-state battery on its own. Instead, the German automaker entered a partnership with a company called Factorial Energy. This allowed the Mercedes to skip any attempts to retread several decades of battery science on its own. After all, reinventing wheels wastes a lot of time.
Of course, Mercedes is far from the only automaker to collaborate with an outside company in developing a solid-state battery. For a few years, it seemed like anyone could start a battery company and lure automotive executives. This stands in contrast to Toyota, which has done some collaborative work but mostly kept its battery development almost entirely in-house. This means that, despite having nearly a ten-year lead on everyone else, Toyota lost its own race.
Are Germans Taking Over Solid-State Batteries?
It’s hard to believe that the Germans have overtaken the Japanese. Toyota and Honda both started working on solid-state batteries long before anyone else did. However, no Japanese company has managed to get a solid-state battery into a car. Mercedes is currently the world leader, followed closely by BMW. The latter company drove a working solid-state EV shortly after Mercedes did.
At this point, various EV companies have announced plans, making it sound like solid-state batteries will hit dealer lots as soon as next week. However, only Mercedes and BMW have working cars to show for their efforts.
Solid-State Batteries Have Come A Long Way
It’s easy to forget how weird solid-state batteries seemed when Toyota first announced that it was developing them. At the time, no one could imagine that they were feasible. Indeed, Tesla had only barely made EVs of any kind mainstream (or at least, mainstream-ish). In the years since, solid-state batteries have gone from Toyota’s quirky side project to a multi-billion-dollar industry-wide technology. By actually installing one into a car and driving it, Mercedes finally turned solid-state batteries into a genuine breakthrough.
Toyota Launched The Solid-State Revolution
Toyota pioneered solid-state batteries in 2012. It’s worth noting that Toyota announced this right after lithium-ion batteries made long-range EVs possible (or at least, lithium-ion batteries finally gave EVs more range than an ICE car after its fuel warning light turned on). It is entirely possible that solid-state EV batteries would not exist had Toyota not decided to take the financial risk. The rest of the auto industry didn’t take solid-state batteries seriously until Toyota had a few early successes. However, as soon as it became clear that solid-state batteries just might work, other companies quickly started working on batteries of their own.
Despite a promising start, Toyota has fallen drastically behind. After making developments in material sourcing and possibly even developing its own chemistry, Toyota has gone very quiet about solid-state news. The company still has the chance to be the first to get a solid-state EV into production, but that looks unlikely.
The Rise Of Battery Partnerships
Toyota may have launched the solid-state revolution by making its battery in-house, but the rest of the auto industry is not. For a while, it seemed like automotive executives were throwing money bags and contracts at anyone who could start a battery company and slap a prospectus. As Toyota has proven, trying to rediscover solid-state battery chemistry takes too long. It is far easier to work with scientists who already know about batteries. And the results speak (or rather, drive) for themselves.
Given that few (if any) automakers supply their own batteries in ICE cars, it’s surprising that any of them tried to design their own batteries and factories. Unfortunately for Toyota, the truth is obvious: partnerships get cars on the road.
Why So Many Companies Want Solid-State EVs
First, a quick refresher: solid-state batteries are batteries that store their energy in solid matter (most batteries use a liquid or a paste). Although they are new to the world of cars, they are an old technology. However, they have always been very small. A lot of pesky physics problems get in the way when attempting to make a solid-state battery big enough to easily find after dropping it onto the floor.
In theory, solid-state batteries will make lithium-ion batteries seem almost primitive. They can store twice as much charge in a battery half the size; They don’t lose charge in severe heat or deep freezes; They have much longer lifespans than lithium-ion batteries; They weigh far less than lithium-ion batteries with the same capacity; They are less likely to catch fire, though it should be noted that lithium-ion battery fires are very rare. This reduces the vehicle’s curb weight and also frees up several hundred pounds of weight capacity on the vehicle’s frame. Fast-charging also does not damage them the way it slowly wears down lithium-ion batteries. It’s easy to see why so many automotive executives have decided that solid-state batteries are worth a few billion dollars of company funds.
EV Battery Development Will Not End With Lithium-Ion
Unlike engines, EV batteries have not transitioned from development to refinement. Lithium-ion batteries were good enough to sell the first mass-market EVs. But (as evidenced by the continued dominance of internal combustion), most drivers don’t think they are good enough. Lithium-ion batteries made the modern EV industry possible.
It’s true that EVs have a long history, but that history was marked by poor sales until very recently. Even steam cars were more viable in the early days. Even in the late 1990s, General Motors‘ short-lived and long-lamented EV1 barely had enough range to traverse a parking lot. Regardless of whether solid-state batteries take off or fail, lithium-ion batteries will be superseded.
Most People Object To The Battery, Not The Rest Of The EV
Most people who don’t want an EV have problems with the battery, not with the rest of the car. As TopSpeed’s own readers have confirmed, top complaints include:
- Long charging times
- Short ranges
- The cost of battery replacement
- Short battery lifespan
Most people love non-battery aspects of EV ownership. The “instant torque” clinches many EV sales on the first test drive. And it is easy to let oneself get used to things, like being able to safely turn on the cabin heater or air conditioning while the car is in the garage.
We Could Be Waiting Much Longer For SSB Mass Production
Getting a solid-state battery into a car is a massive leap forward for the industry. However, it’s hard to prove much with a few carefully planned trips along a short route. It is time to prove these much-touted long ranges that solid-state batteries theoretically have. Chinese EV manufacturer Nio stunned the automotive world by driving a vehicle with a semi-solid-state battery for 653 miles on a single charge. In theory, solid-state batteries can go even farther than that. The time has come to prove it.
No Matter How Much Money Has Been Spent, Solid-State Batteries Could Still Fizzle Out
Even if it looks like solid-state batteries are all but guaranteed at this point, they are not. Other technologies have gotten to the stage of working concept cars and then been canceled. Chrysler famously put twenty years into developing turbine-powered cars. The company even produced a fleet of working vehicles and let a few lucky employees take the cars home instead of restricting them to carefully supervised laps on a test track.
Some initiatives even make it to production before getting the ax, such as Mazda’s rotary engine. Every few years, the company announces that it will bring back the rotary, but the engine remains little more than an interesting curiosity that keeps popping up in the company’s history.
Factory Production Is The Next Big Hurdle
Of course, nothing in the auto industry is final until it goes into production (and even then, some would-have-been breakthroughs only last a year or two on the dealer lot). But for now, an increasing number of companies are working on solid-state batteries or powertrains that would theoretically use them. Mass production remains solid-state batteries’ biggest hurdle. Producing a few one-off batteries in a laboratory and cranking them out in a factory are almost completely different operations. Multiple car companies have announced factory plans, but the world is still waiting for the first shipment. This may prove harder than actually bolting an SSB into a car — and that took 13 years!