Battery experts: solid-state EV tech could be five years out

Solid-state batteries are the “reach” energy-storage technology slated to take electric vehicles (EVs) - and to a lesser extent, other consumer-electronic products - to the next level. And at September's 2019 Battery Show of North America, speaker panels and presentations about solid state certainly were in abundance. Just one problem: experts at the show's Solid State Battery Feasibility roundtable discussion where brutally realistic in agreeing the technology won't meet criteria for mass-production EVs for at least five years.

The reasons for the five-year wait are manifest, but the two primary factors are familiar to the automotive sector: cost and manufacturability. Nonetheless, most experts here agree that solid-state batteries for EVs certainly are not an “if,” but a “when.” One analyst estimate indicates $500 million was invested in solid-state battery ventures in 2018 alone.