Toyota is now betting on the electric car with a battery offering 1,200 km of autonomy and a recharge in 10 minutes

Toyota revealed in a recent briefing that they could realize the dream of an electric car offering a range of up to 1,200 km using a solid-state battery. This type of battery would allow a complete recharge in just 10 minutes, and this without any degradation, regardless of the number of recharges carried out.

Until now, extending the life of solid-state batteries has been a challenge to make this technology commercially viable, but Toyota says it has solved that problem. If all goes as planned, this breakthrough could be achieved by 2027.

Now, he is focusing on overcoming the next hurdle: developing mass production capacity. If this materializes, it could really shake up the landscape of electric vehicles.

According to Hiroki Nakajima, Chief Technology Officer, "We have discovered some great hardware. We will definitely keep pace with the rest of the world and put it into practice."

In theory, Toyota's solid-state batteries for electric cars could be recharged in less than 10 minutes and provide a vehicle with a range of 1,200 kilometers. They would thus have an energy density 2.4 times greater than that of conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Toyota's announcement comes just in time ahead of the annual shareholders' meeting, which has driven Toyota's shares higher on the stock market. However, it will take a few more years before this battery becomes a reality.

Meanwhile, Toyota is working to improve the performance of its lithium-ion batteries. By 2026, the company plans to launch a new generation of electric cars offering a range of around 1,000 km and fast charging in just 20 minutes.

In any case, the first car to benefit from this battery could be a hybrid car. Toyota plans to market a hybrid car with a solid-state battery in the first half of this decade. This will be a crucial test in terms of durability and reliability for this battery before it is brought to market in an all-electric car.

The race to find the solid-state battery

The solid-state battery is considered a revolutionary solution to make the electric car as practical as the internal combustion engine one. Apart from the high cost, one of the main obstacles to the adoption of electric cars is the constraints imposed on drivers, such as the need to have a place to charge the car at night or to plan routes according to the charging infrastructure available.

In theory, this type of battery could solve these practical problems, but probably not the cost problem, at least initially. Thus, it would be possible to use an electric car in the same way as a current gasoline, diesel or hybrid car. It could be parked on the street at night without needing to plug it in for several hours, and it would be possible to go on a trip without having to plan where to charge.

Many manufacturers, including start-ups, are working to bring this technology into production. So far none of them have succeeded in doing so.

Toyota is one such manufacturer and today announced that it will bring its first electric car with a solid-state battery to market by 2027.

Nissan also plans to launch its first solid-state battery electric by the end of fiscal year 2028, while BMW hopes to show off a concept car with such a battery in 2025, followed by mass production in 2030.