Recently, according to media reports, CATL has significantly increased its R&D efforts in all-solid-state battery technology this year, and expanded its R&D team to more than 1,000 professionals. This is the first time in the battery industry that a company has invested resources to promote solid-state battery technology on a large scale, as CATL did. It is reported that CATL is currently focusing on the sulfide technology path, and has successfully advanced to the trial production stage of 20Ah samples. This marks that its battery technology solution has basically taken shape, and the next step will be to explore the specific production process. According to the information released by CATL earlier, the company expects to achieve initial mass production of all-solid-state batteries in 2027.
In recent years, solid-state battery technology has developed rapidly, and as a key technology in the field of new energy vehicles, it has received extensive attention from the industry. The general view is that solid-state battery technology is expected to completely change the current market pattern of new energy vehicles.
The core advantages of solid-state batteries are their safety and energy density. Due to the use of solid-state electrolytes, solid-state batteries are not flammable, non-explosive, and there is no risk of electrolyte leakage, which greatly reduces the possibility of spontaneous combustion and explosion of the battery. In extreme cases, whether it is an external impact or an internal short circuit, solid-state batteries are far safer than liquid batteries. In terms of energy density, solid-state batteries are expected to reach 500Wh/kg or even higher, which will enable electric vehicles to have a range of more than 1,000 kilometers. At the same time, solid-state batteries overcome the problem of lithium dendrites, and their cycle performance can reach about 45,000 times, far exceeding that of traditional lithium-ion batteries. In terms of charging speed, the laboratory has shown that all-solid-state batteries can be charged to 80% in 15 minutes, and some research teams even claim to be able to charge up to 80% in 5 minutes. These advances, once commercialized, will effectively address the current problem of battery life anxiety. Solid-state batteries also have a wider operating temperature range, such as sulfide electrolytes, which can reach -60°C to 120°C, making them suitable for more extreme environments. In addition, the thickness of solid-state batteries can be greatly reduced, eliminating the need for internal temperature control components, improving volume utilization, and not containing toxic heavy metals, which is more environmentally friendly.
CATL's development in the field of solid-state batteries is particularly eye-catching. According to Zeng Yuqun, the head of CATL, the company's research in the field of solid-state batteries has lasted for 7-8 years. At present, CATL focuses on the sulfide route, and its self-evaluation in the R&D stage is "4" ("1-9" evaluation system for technology and manufacturing maturity). According to people familiar with the matter, CATL's plan has been able to increase the energy density of ternary lithium batteries to 500Wh/kg, which is more than 40% higher than the existing mainstream batteries, but the charging speed and cycle life have not yet met expectations. At present, CATL's battery samples have entered the 20Ah trial production stage, which is a process of gradually expanding the capacity of a single battery from 1Ah, the 1Ah stage is mainly used to test the performance of battery materials, and the 10Ah sample is mainly used to test the performance of battery cells.
Wu Kai, chief scientist of CATL, said that the goal is to reach the level of "7-8" by 2027 and achieve small batch production of all-solid-state batteries. However, even if this is achieved, the issue of production costs remains a challenge.
One of the most difficult problems to overcome in the development of all-solid-state batteries is the "solid-solid interface" problem, that is, the solid-solid interface contact between the cathode material and the electrolyte is insufficient, which hinders ion transport. The volume expansion of the negative electrode during the charging and discharging process leads to the dynamic damage of the solid-solid interface, which is difficult to repair and continues to deteriorate. This seriously affects the cycle life and rate performance of all-solid-state batteries. Although there are some technical methods that can solve this problem, such as material modification, interface engineering, machining and chemical bonding, how to solve this problem thoroughly, and how to solve it in a low-cost way, has become a difficult point in R&D.
Interestingly, many companies are planning to launch solid-state battery products around 2027. BYD's subsidiary, Fodi Battery, has announced plans to achieve small-scale production of solid-state batteries by 2027, and expects 1,000 vehicles to be equipped with the new batteries for testing. BYD also expects 40,000 vehicles to be equipped with all-solid-state batteries by 2030, and that number will increase to 120,000 by 2033. Sunwoda has also set ambitious goals to achieve mass production of all-solid-state batteries in 2026. The company has completed the development of the first generation of semi-solid-state batteries and is testing the second generation. Sunwoda aims to complete the research and development of the third-generation polymer composite all-solid-state battery by 2025, and is actively developing the fourth-generation product, which is expected to reach 700Wh/kg. Gotion Hi-Tech announced that it has successfully manufactured and tested samples of automotive-grade all-solid-state batteries with a cycle life of more than 3,000 cycles. Gotion Hi-Tech plans to conduct small-scale trial production in 2027 and expects to enter the large-scale production stage in 2030. This year, China Innovation Airlines launched an all-solid-state battery called "Unbounded", and official data shows that this battery has an energy density of 430Wh/kg, a battery capacity of more than 50Ah, and has made breakthroughs in a number of technical fields. China Innovation Airlines plans to start small-scale loading in 2027 and mass production in 2028. EVE expects to launch all-solid-state batteries with high power, high environmental adaptability and high safety in 2026, and will give priority to hybrid vehicles. The company also plans to launch a high-energy all-solid-state battery with an energy density of 400Wh/kg in 2028. Beijing Pure Lithium New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. has established the first all-solid-state lithium battery production line in Yizhuang, Beijing, and plans to carry out small-scale trial production first, with a target production capacity of 200MWh, which is equivalent to being able to charge 200,000 two-wheeled vehicles, and can produce thousands of solid-state lithium batteries per day after full production. SAIC, Penghui Energy, Funeng Technology, Honeycomb Energy, GAC, Dongfeng, Changan, Ganfeng Lithium and other companies are also actively deploying the field of solid-state batteries, indicating that the competition in this market will be very fierce in the future.
The launch date of 2027 is mainly due to the fact that all-solid-state batteries still face many technical challenges, including solid-solid interface problems, the application of lithium metal anodes, the instability of sulfide electrolytes in air, and the high cost of synthesis. Taking cost as an example, the semi-solid-state battery launched by NIO has a capacity of only 150 kWh, and the cost is estimated to exceed 300,000 yuan. Currently, the raw material cost of sulfide solid electrolytes is relatively high, at around US$195/kg, much higher than the US$50/kg required for commercialization. However, with the advancement of technology and the improvement of manufacturing processes, manufacturing costs are expected to decrease significantly. It is estimated that by 2030, when the application scale of all-solid-state batteries exceeds 10GWh, the price of battery cells will drop to about 1 yuan/Wh. By 2035, the price of battery cells for all-solid-state batteries is expected to further reduce to 0.6-0.7 yuan/Wh.
