Toyota Motor Corp. plans to launch an electric vehicle powered by an all-solid-state battery as early as 2027, the company has said, as it seeks to boost its fledging EV business with the next-generation technology that significantly increases driving range on a single charge.
Unlike the lithium-ion batteries currently used to power EVs, all-solid-state batteries employ solid electrolytes, providing increased energy density.
The new battery, which can endure temperatures of over 100 C and is more resistant to deterioration, will more than double the driving range of the bZ4X EV, with charging reduced to around 10 minutes, a third of the time required by current technology, the Japanese automaker said.
Toyota is aiming to achieve a driving range of 1,000 kilometers, Takero Kato, head of the company unit in charge of developing advanced EVs, said in a YouTube video posted on Tuesday.
Toyota had said it would release hybrid vehicles employing all-solid-state batteries in the early 2020s, but it has decided to prioritize development of vehicles powered by the next-generation batteries amid the rising popularity of EVs.
The automaker, previously seen as reluctant to embrace all-battery vehicles, announced in April that it plans to sell 1.5 million EVs annually and launch 10 new models by 2026.
Global automakers are rushing to develop all-solid-state batteries, with Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. aiming to utilize them by fiscal 2028 and the late 2020s, respectively.
