A BMW i7 electric with even more power, more range, and yet a smaller and cheaper battery pack. That’s the promise of solid-state battery tech. While the tech has been right around the corner for years, one more automaker is bringing it a step closer to reality. BMW and Solid Power are ready to test an i7 with the new tech on the road in and around Munich.
BMW and Solid Power started their partnership in 2016 and expanded it in 2022. That long-term collaboration has resulted in this test vehicle, which Solid Power CEO John Van Scoter calls ” the first demonstration of truly all-solid-state battery cells in a vehicle.”
Solid State Dumps Liquid Electrolytes For Huge Improvements
A solid-state battery uses, like the name suggests, a solid electrolyte instead of the liquid electrolyte a conventional lithium-ion battery uses. Using a solid electrolyte allows a much higher energy density than conventional designs. They’re also thought to be much safer than liquid electrolyte cells, because they greatly reduce the risk of thermal runaway. They also generally use nonflammable electrolytes.
The solid-state cells are less affected by high and low temperatures, support higher-voltage internal battery chemistries, and can handle quicker charging while keeping their maximum capacity longer over time.
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BMW says the new tech will mean longer range with lower pack weight. The i7 it is getting ready to test uses its GenV pack construction tech, not the latest Gen6, which could mean even more energy density in the next generation of the design.
Toyota, Nissan Also Racing To Solid State Production
While BMW has been working with Colorado-based Solid Power (which also works with Ford) for years, the tech has been slow to be ready for market. In January 2023, BMW said it would have a prototype cell assembly line ready in 2023. In December of that year, BMW said that it was still working on the prototype. And that a production-ready battery wasn’t going to happen before 2030.
Around the same time, Toyota, which is also working on solid state, said that mass production would happen around the same time. Even then, Toyota only expects to build enough cells for “several tens of thousands of vehicles” per year.
Nissan is more ambitious. The Japanese automaker has said it expects to launch a series-production EV with solid-state batteries in 2028. It’s not clear if those plans have been sidetracked by the automaker’s financial woes.
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Honda believes it will be a game-changer.
Battery giant CATL, which also supplies BMW with electric vehicle batteries, has been more cautious about solid-state tech. The company’s CEO has questioned the safety of the tech. Instead, he believes sodium-ion cells, a tech which CATL has been working on since 2021, are the future of battery tech.
For now, “Our BMW i7 ASSB test vehicle on the road is a perfect example of the BMW Group’s technology-open mindset. We are continuously advancing the development of new battery cell technologies and are constantly expanding our know-how with valuable partners such as Solid Power,” said Martin Schuster, Vice President Battery Cell and Cell Module at the BMW Group.
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