The founder of the world’s largest supplier of lithium-ion batteries, CATL, has labelled solid-state batteries as impractical and unsafe – alleging ‘showstopper’ claims ignore the real-world limits of the technology.
Dr Robin Zeng – who is also the CEO of CATL – told the Financial Times the much-vaunted solid-state battery tech was unreliable, lacked durability and posed unsolved safety issues in its current guise.
Chinese-based CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited) is the world’s largest producer of lithium-ion batteries, with a 36.8 per cent share of the global supply in 2023, ahead of BYD’s 15.8 per cent.
Lithium-ion is the most common battery type in new electric vehicles in 2024 – used widely by car makers including Tesla, Hyundai, BYD, MG, Porsche and Ford.
Solid-state batteries are broadly seen as a ‘silver bullet’ to ending driving range anxiety for electric vehicle use, with Toyota claiming they will enable up to 1200 kilometres of driving range after a mere 10-minute charge of a completely flat battery.
They’re also said to be cheaper than lithium-ion batteries, too, improving affordability to remove another key barrier-to-purchase for potential electric car buyers.
Yet the promises provide false hope after years of research and development failed to deliver a viable solid-state battery, according to the CATL chief.
“We fully support solid-state, but I have been investing in this for 10 years,” Zeng – nicknamed the ‘Battery King’ – told the Financial Times.
“I watch the development people working on solid-state almost every month, so I know all the progress, and somehow we still have these showstoppers,” he added.
Toyota – much criticised for its slow introduction of battery-electric vehicles compared to rivals – is regarded as a leader in the development of solid-state battery tech, which it has pledged to introduce to showrooms sometime in 2027 or 2028.
