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The EV race has never been more competitive — yet Toyota may be about to rewrite the rules entirely. The brand synonymous with bulletproof reliability took a famously measured path into electrification, leaning hard on hybrids while rivals rushed battery-electric lineups to market. But that patience may have been strategic all along. After years of quiet, determined development, Toyota's solid-state battery is closing in on production reality — and when it arrives, it could represent the most significant leap in EV technology since lithium-ion cells made the whole proposition viable in the first place.
Toyota Is Ending Battery Complacency
- Lithium-ion batteries have emerged as the EV industry standard, but they have too many shortcomings.
- Range anxiety keeps many people from switching to EVs. Solid-state batteries will eliminate that problem.
- SSBs will also free up interior space and payload capacity.
Up until now, lithium-ion batteries have been the standard for EVs. No other battery type can hold enough charge in a small enough space. Indeed, the proliferation of lithium-ion batteries was a key factor in the modern-day rise of EVs. General Motors' short-lived EV1 originally used lead-acid batteries, which effectively gave it the driving range of an ICE car perpetually running on empty.
However, lithium-ion batteries have not been good enough to supersede a full tank of gasoline. Toyota was an early proponent of solid-state batteries as a possible replacement, being one of the first companies to seriously pursue them. It took a long time for others in the industry to take notice. But as the first promising test results and prototypes slowly emerged, the rest of the industry gradually decided to start investing in solid-state batteries.
Toyota's SSB Will Bring Long Driving Ranges To Everyone
Polls have shown that most people are sticking with ICE cars because they offer a long driving range between refueling. While many people could technically get by on a 100-mile driving range, they would have to add daily recharging to their routines. At present, not everyone has access to a vacant charging station every night.
At various times, Toyota has claimed a driving range of anywhere between 745 and 932 miles on a single charge. This would eliminate range anxiety. Indeed, range may be the single biggest reason other automakers have followed Toyota into the world of solid-state batteries. No company wants to lose its would-have-been EV buyers to the automaker with a 745-mile range.
SSBs Free Up Space In The Car
The battery is the biggest component in most EVs, and also the heaviest. From the moment automakers installed the first batteries in the first modern-day EVs, they have been trying to minimize their footprint. No EV owner wants awkward floor humps eating into legroom or cargo space. The battery also limits how much weight the vehicle can carry — many EV battery packs tip the scales at more than the combined engines and transmissions they replaced. Solid-state batteries weigh substantially less than lithium-ion batteries with the same charge capacity, which means the car can carry extra people instead of hauling several hundred pounds of cells.
Toyota's Understated History Of Innovation
- Toyota is not known for bleeding-edge cars, but it has substantially changed the auto industry.
- Toyota introduced the United States to cars that were both fuel-efficient and pleasant to drive.
- Toyota also launched the market for hybrid cars, and later for FCEVs.
People often associate Toyota with bulletproof yet boring “appliance cars.” However, no other automaker could consistently earn such glowing reviews for such practical vehicles. (Automotive journalists tend to look down on sensible transportation and gush over “sportiness.”) However, solid-state batteries won’t be the first time the company dramatically reshaped the auto industry.
In the 1970s, Toyota introduced Americans to the then-radical concept of cars that were small and fuel-efficient but still enjoyable to drive. Up until that point, “fuel efficient” and “enjoyable” were mutually exclusive categories in America. It may seem absurd in the 21st century to call the Corolla revolutionary, but Toyota's well-appointed, gas-sipping cars permanently changed the industry.
Toyota Introduced The World To Hybrids
Less than three decades after teaching Americans how to enjoy fuel-efficient cars rather than endure them, Toyota introduced the world to a mind-blowing new concept: putting an electric motor next to the engine. For people who didn't own multiple coffee-table books about cars, the concept of a “hybrid” was genuinely shocking. Toyota had to lean on every ounce of its hard-won reputation for reliability to convince anyone to buy one. As shown by the long history of pre-Prius hybrids that ended as failed dreams and minor historical footnotes, no other company could have pulled it off.
With hybrids, Toyota was the first company to create a market for a completely new type of powertrain since internal combustion engines replaced steam-powered cars. It would retain that distinction until Tesla created today’s demand for EVs. Even after American companies figured out how to make competent compacts instead of rattly ones, they never clawed back the market share that Toyota won away from them.
Toyota Gave The World Hydrogen Cars
It is pedantically correct to point out that Toyota didn't invent FCEVs just like it didn't invent hybrids. But it is tied with Honda for the first company to successfully sell one. The Mirai sedan now holds the longest production run of any hydrogen vehicle in the history of cars. Some industry outsiders may think hydrogen is a corporate money pit. However, interest in hydrogen is slowly growing, and fuel cells are gradually spreading to more automakers.
Toyota Kickstarted A Wave of SSB Development
- When Toyota initially announced that it was getting into solid-state batteries, the response was a mix of apathy and skepticism.
- As SSBs come closer and closer to feasible, more companies are trying to make their own.
When Toyota first announced that it would attempt to develop solid-state batteries, the news attracted the same tepid curiosity that initially greeted a California startup called “Tesla” when it announced plans to manufacture electric cars. The notion seemed too far-fetched to take seriously, but not interesting enough to generate real alarm. With both EVs and solid-state batteries, however, opinion has since shifted dramatically. What once seemed wacky is now widely regarded as the way of the future.
SSBs Have United The Auto Industry With Tech Startups
Although solid-state batteries have been around for a long time, they have always been very small — found in things like hearing aids and pacemakers. Car-sized SSBs are new territory for the automotive industry, and indeed for the broader world of engineering. Therefore, most automakers dabbling in SSBs have chosen to collaborate with battery companies rather than attempt to independently rediscover several decades of battery science. It is almost too easy to form a battery-related startup and lure auto executives bearing money. Some of the biggest names in the auto industry have formed alliances with battery companies that were almost completely anonymous until they got name-dropped in automotive journals.
Lithium-ion Batteries Are Good Enough For Now, But Solid-State Batteries Are The Future
Lithium-ion batteries made EVs viable, but they remain the technology's most significant weak point. Fast-charging shortens their lifespan — granted, most batteries prefer a gentle flow of electricity over a massive surge. They tend to offer roughly the same range as an ICE car running on half a tank of gasoline. And the weight penalty is severe: lithium-ion packs can push compact EVs to the curb weight of a V-8-powered, vinyl-roofed brougham.
If solid-state batteries live up to all the industry hype, they will offer twice the driving range in a battery that is half the size. They can be fast-charged without any concern about prematurely degrading the cells. And they will reduce vehicle weight by several hundred pounds.
Toyota Has The Funds To Make Solid-State Batteries Happen
Financially speaking, Toyota is in an enviable position. The company is one of the top car sellers in the world, regardless of how one measures it. That means Toyota can afford to wait a long time before its projects turn a profit — and with solid-state batteries, that kind of financial cushion is essential. It is possible to rush a new car body into production, but no one can put scientific progress on an accelerated timetable.
Toyota's Long History Of Reliable Vehicles Makes Its SSB Program Possible
Because of its famous reliability, Toyota doesn’t need to sell its cars as hard as other companies do. The brand has a near-total lock on buyers who simply don’t want to worry about car problems. Toyota’s longstanding reputation also help it sell cars with new technology. Other companies would hit a wall of customer skepticism, but people trust Toyota. This could prove decisive when selling cars equipped with a type of battery that has never before been fitted to four wheels.
Batteries Are The Last Big Problem With EVs
Batteries are the only part of EV design that isn’t a completely settled technology. Car bodies did not change when electric motors replaced engines. Furthermore, no one needed to reinvent the electric motor before it could be used to propel a vehicle. However, the EV industry has yet to converge on a viable battery design, or even agree on what the internal chemistry should be. Lithium-ion batteries got EVs going, but solid-state batteries will make them take off.
