Battery breakthrough offers 1,500 kilometres of range from just 10 minutes of charging, Toyota says
First commercial solid-state battery offers nearly double the range of the long-range version of Tesla’s Model Y.
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Your support makes all the difference.Toyota has revealed plans for a next-generation electric vehicle battery capable of delivering close to 1,500 kilometres (932 miles) of range.
The Japanese automotive giant said it aims to produce the commercial solid-state battery by 2027, claiming that it will have a charge time of just 10 minutes.
“With the evolution of the vehicle’s operating system, the next-generation battery EV will also enable customization of the ‘driving feel,’ with a focus on acceleration, turning and stopping,” the company said in a technology briefing.
The company said that several recent breakthroughs with battery technology meant it was ready to move from the research stage to production of solid-state batteries, which offer a number of advantages over lithium-ion batteries that are currently used in commercial electric cars.
Despite range and charging limitations of lithium-ion batteries, they have been favoured over solid-state batteries due to cost and durability issues.
Toyota claimed that a “technological breakthrough” had overcome these issues, though did not specify which.
The company said it would continue to push forward development of lithium-ion batteries, with plans for a more efficient battery capable of 1,000km of range – nearly double that of the long-range version of Tesla’s Model Y.
Lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries will also be developed as a lower cost alternative to lithium-ion and solid-state batteries, Toyota said.
Other innovations unrelated to batteries that were detailed in the briefing included aerodynamic technology “based on rocket hypersonic aerodynamics”, as well as manufacturing upgrades designed to reduce costs.
Among these is a production process called Giga casting, which was pioneered by Tesla in order to streamline the manufacturing of electric vehicles.
Toyota President Koji Sato has previously said that the company had fallen behind in the EV sector and was forced to play catchup.
The latest announcement saw Toyota’s share price jump to its highest level since last August.
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