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Solid-state batteries coming by 2025 – Volkswagen

Volkswagen is expected to begin offering a solid-state battery solution for its electric vehicles by 2025, following a joint venture with US-based battery firm QuantumScape.


Solid-state batteries are high on the list of priorities for carmakers, given they promise to unlock more range from electric vehicles in a more stable, lighter, compact package.

Volkswagen knows the impact solid-state technology could have, and is working hard to match its Japanese competitors in the field.

"We are developing also solid state with our partner. At that moment when we started [the MEB platform], lithium technology for us was the right technology, but we are also working on [solid-state batteries] at the moment," Ralf Brandstatter, Volkswagen board member and chief operating officer, told media at the ID.3 launch.

Quizzed about the timing around a potential introduction, he suggested it'd be within the next cycle of Volkswagen's electric vehicles.

"Yes, around this [2025] time scale is possible, but I can't commit just yet."

Volkswagen has recently increased its investment in US-based QuantumScape in 2018 to US$100 million ($147 million), making Volkswagen the company's largest automotive investor.

Founded in 2010, QuantumScape holds over 200 patents and patent applications for solid-state battery cell technology, and is also a key player in the game of mass manufacturing solid-state battery technology.

By replacing a liquid electrolyte with a solid version, complexity and cost are reduced, while safety and energy density are greatly improved. With solid-state batteries, recharge times are said to drop from hours to minutes.

Given the three- to five-year development lead time for new vehicles and a commitment to have a technology solution ready by 2025, it's expected that Volkswagen will begin working on a solid-state battery technology for its next-generation of electric cars based on the MEB platform, or the platform that supersedes it.

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