Solid-state batteries be the major breakthrough for electric car batteries, this is because they deliver greater range and safety over the current liquid-type batteries like lithium-ion units. But while the technology isn’t new, solid-state batteries remain difficult to manufacture on a mass scale. They also don’t have the longevity required for automotive applications, where frequent charging at high energy rates is common.
A battery pack made of cells like these could give an electric vehicle a single-charge range of nearly 500 miles and boast a service life of more than 1,000 charge cycles which could translate to a 500,000-mile part, while being less volatile and safer in a crash than a battery filled with flammable liquid. Currently, the longest-range electric vehicle you can buy is the 373-mile Tesla Model S.
One problem in the area of longevity is the growth of crystals on the lithium anodes of solid-state batteries during charging, which reduces battery lifespan and also causes them to overheat. To address this, Samsung’s researchers developed a prototype battery featuring a silver-carbon (Ag-C) composite layer as the anode. They found that this resulted in not only improved life and safety, but also more capacity.
Samsung said its prototype could potentially deliver up to 500 miles on a charge and have a life cycle of over 1,000 charges. The technology, the researchers claim, could also allow for batteries half the size of current lithium-ion units.
“The product of this study could be a seed technology for safer, high-performance batteries of the future,” said Dongmin Im, a senior researcher at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology. “Going forward, we will continue to develop and refine all-solid-state battery materials and manufacturing technologies to help take EV battery innovation to the next level.”
The production period is not known, but suspected to be soon because some EVs have booked the solid battery for 2025.
