Gotion unveils all-solid-state EV battery

Chinese electric vehicle battery maker Gotion High-Tech Co Ltd unveiled its all-solid-state battery on Friday, eyeing "production in small quantities" by 2027, as Chinese companies strengthen their efforts on the potentially game-changing technology.

With an energy density of 350 Wh/kg, the battery, dubbed Gemstone, surpasses the performance of mainstream ternary lithium batteries by 40 percent, the company said.

Pan Ruijun, chief engineer of the all-solid-state battery project, told China Daily that Gotion High-Tech aims to manufacture the battery in small quantities by 2027 and mass produce the same by 2030.

"The company has achieved breakthrough in the manufacturing techniques of such batteries and has promoted prototype batteries to automotive-grade cell manufacturing," Pan said.

Currently, China leads in power batteries, including lithium-ion ones, which are widely used in EVs.

Compared with lithium-ion batteries that use liquid electrolytes, solid-state batteries use solid electrodes and boast higher theoretical energy density and safety. Solid-state batteries can be categorized into semi-solid-state and all-solid-state types.

The Hefei, Anhui province-based company also launched its latest generation of Stellary batteries that are able to support a 600-kilometer driving range after just 10 minutes of charging, as well as an ultra-fast-charging battery that is able to recharge to 80 percent in 9.8 minutes.

Currently, technologically advanced countries, including China, Japan and South Korea, are betting big on solid-state battery technology, which could give them a lead in the next round of global competition in the EV segment of the automotive industry.

CATL, or Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, said in April that it is aiming to produce all-solid-state batteries in small quantities in 2027, the first time ever that the world's largest manufacturer of electric car batteries has outlined a timetable for the cutting-edge batteries.

Japan, which has dedicated its national efforts to developing solid-state batteries since 2018, is currently the country with the highest number of related patent applications. Toyota also set a target last June for commercializing such batteries as early as 2027. The Japanese firm now has received more than 1,300 patents in the field of solid-state batteries.

"China is a pioneer of power batteries, but given the disruptive potential of the all-solid-state batteries, the country has risks (like being left behind by other countries pioneering new technologies)," said Ouyang Minggao, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Tsinghua University professor, at a conference on all-solid-state batteries recently.