An Astonishing Solid-State Battery May Let EVs Recharge as Fast as Refueling In Just 2 Years

As a racing driver himself, Akio Toyoda, Toyota Motor Company’s chairman, is one of only a few automotive top brass who knows proper car control. He even has a nickname, “Morizo,” which he used to secretly race the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in 2007. Along with possessing a deep understanding of how to make Toyotas go fast, he’s taking big steps to steer the future of electric vehicles for Toyota.

That starts with investing in solid-state batteries, which Toyota hopes to implement in its customer vehicles as soon as 2027, with mass production set for 2030 and beyond.

We wouldn’t be the first to tell you that EV interest has waned considerably since its prominence in the early 2010s. When the technology was in its infancy, there was a linear trajectory

of improvement; that linearity has since plateaued, and we see EVs now with an average of around 300 miles of range, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. We’ve reached the apex of current battery tech, and many automakers are now looking at solid-state batteries as the answer.

What Is a Solid State Battery?

Inherent in their name, solid-state batteries use, well, solid electrolytes instead of liquid. Toyota says the new battery tech allows for faster movement of ions and a greater tolerance for high voltages and temperatures. These qualities bring many advantages, especially longer range and faster charging times.

Toyota says its batteries of the future would be able to supply 620 miles of range and be fast-charged from 10 percent to 80 percent in under 10 minutes, which is about the time it takes to refuel your typical gasoline vehicle.

Solid electrolytes also lower the risk of fires while increasing energy density—the amount of energy a battery can deliver compared to its weight. This will theoretically allow Toyota to produce a higher-capacity battery pack that’s lighter and more powerful than ever. For context, the Japanese automaker says its prototype batteries are about the size and thickness of a thin spiral notebook.

What’s Holding Back Current Battery Tech?

Heat is the biggest enemy of the current battery technology: Charging a battery quickly produces a tremendous amount of heat. The same can be said for rapidly discharging a battery; it’s one of the reasons why high-performance EVs struggled for such a long time to do a full lap of the 12.9-mile Nurburgring Nordschleife course.

Mini was the first to attempt a lap record in 2010 with a prototype EV-converted Mini Cooper—setting a somewhat lukewarm lap time of nine minutes and 52 seconds.

Volkswagen’s motorsport division already developed a bespoke fast-charging solution for its I.D. R Pikes Peak car as early as 2018. Considered to be cutting-edge technology at the time, it was able to juice up the battery pack in as little as 20 minutes. However, the lithium-ion (liquid electrolyte) battery still struggled to keep cool with the amount of energy being pumped into it in such a short amount of time. Seven years later, we’re still facing the same issues with the same technology in road vehicles.

What Are the Practical Benefits of Solid-State Batteries?

Along with greater range and fast charging times, Toyota is also looking at the aerodynamic benefits of solid-state batteries. Most EVs have their battery packs mounted underneath the vehicle’s floor to keep the center of gravity low. However, Toyota says the current batteries are too tall, forcing vehicles to run a higher ride height to stop them from scraping the ground.

This is detrimental not only to handling, but also aerodynamics. If we reduce the height of the battery pack, the vehicle’s height can also be reduced, lowering its CdA (coefficient of drag multiplied by frontal area) and increasing its effective range.

For context, Toyota says the battery pack in its all-electric bZ4X is 150mm tall (5.9 inches), while its batteries of tomorrow could be made as thin as 120mm—4.7 inches. Sure, that’s just a sneeze over an inch of ride height, but that’s not an insignificant amount. The Japanese automaker also mentioned that it would be able to shave another 20mm off to make low-profile batteries for performance EVs where weight distribution is even more important.

Is There Any Competition?

Unsurprisingly, Toyota isn’t the only automaker looking to implement solid-state batteries. Nissan, Honda, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ford, and let’s not forget Tesla—among others—are all working on implementing solid-state batteries before 2030. We’ll have to see how this evolves in the United States, pending the effects of tariffs on the automotive industry.

Many manufacturers are considering hybrid batteries—combining solid and liquid electrolytes—to be a more approachable alternative in the interim. Solid-state batteries have many “holy grail” benefits, but they aren’t without compromise. For instance, solid-state batteries are much more complicated to produce, still have longevity concerns, and swell considerably while charging.