Although they seemed more inclined towards hydrogen vehicles, Toyota has changed its mind and now seems fully focused on the development of electric cars. What many people do not know is that the Japanese brand has been filing patents for years about its solid-state battery technology and its development is more advanced than its competitors. They recently revealed what their plans are for the coming years, and they have already announced that they are preparing electric vehicles with 1,200 km of range thanks to these new batteries with solid electrolytes. In addition, they will load in 10 minutes according to the data they have advanced.
Of course, the latest information, as expected, reveals that the Japanese brand will not use this technology in all its electric cars. At least at the start of the deployment of its solid-state batteries, production will be limited, and Toyota plans to offer a solid-state battery in just 10,000 units of a new model that will be based on the Lexus Electrified Sport Concept prototype. Which, by the way, is called to be the successor to the Lexus LFA.
Toyota will only have 10,000 electric cars with solid-state batteries by 2030, and this will be the model that debuts the technology
Through The Drive, we have learned that Toyota will only have 10,000 units of electric cars with solid-state batteries available by 2030 and that these units of next-generation battery technology will be reserved for the final production version of the Lexus Electrified Sport Concept. Which, just as I was telling you, will be the successor to the Lexus LFA. So, as is evident, with this technology they are not going to revolutionize the electric car sector in its first years, but rather it will be a technology reserved for just a few lucky enough to be able to buy this type of sports vehicle.
Advanced information reveals that this sports car will only have 700 km of range in the first version, although in a revision with some improvements, it will be able to provide up to 1,400 km of range. Little by little, the details about the initial deployment of Toyota’s solid-state battery are being resolved and, as we can see, it will be a revolutionary technology but it will take much longer than desired to represent a revolution of some kind. Not only because it will arrive later than expected, but because it will also do so with limited availability and initially, with limited benefits based on its potential.
Some time ago it was commented that Toyota planned to release solid-state batteries sooner, but not in fully electric cars but in the latest generation of hybrids, or plug-in hybrids. That report assured that in this way they could scale their production and cushion the heavy costs that this technology will entail in its first steps. In addition, it could serve to significantly increase the electric range of its hybrids. Today, this idea is not so clear and we do not know for sure if the brand’s hybrids will be the first to have a solid-state battery in their drive system.
While Toyota is focused squarely on the development of solid-state batteries, the world’s leading manufacturers of batteries for electric vehicles, which are CATL and BYD, are right now focused on the arrival of sodium batteries. A technology that is also much safer than lithium-ion batteries, but does not stand out, especially for its energy density but, rather, for much lower prices even than those of batteries with LFP cells. Although this technology is not a revolution in terms of performance, it can be the definitive lever for a collapse in the minimum prices of electric vehicles and to favor the popularization of this type of vehicle in Europe.
