Harley Lover Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) An interesting approach, makes a lot of sense for Toyota's product portfolio: Quote Toyota announced that its first vehicle to use solid-state batteries will go on sale by 2025 in an interview with Autoline. The first Toyotas to use the new batteries will be hybrids, rather than fully electric vehicles, making it possible the first to get the new battery could be the Prius. Solid-state batteries promise to bring quicker charging times and longer ranges. Quote Gill Pratt, Toyota's chief scientist and head of the Toyota Research Institute, said that Toyota is aiming to "commercialize" its solid-state batteries in the first half of this decade. Surprisingly, Pratt said that the first Toyotas to receive the new batteries will actually be hybrids instead of fully electric vehicles. Pratt outlined a couple of reasons why Toyota intends to debut solid-state batteries in hybrids. Solid-state batteries are, at the moment, more expensive to produce, he said, and since hybrids have smaller battery packs than EVs, implementing them in hybrids first will reduce the cost. The other challenge facing solid-state batteries currently is battery life, with repeated charging taking a toll on early prototype batteries. In a hybrid, the smaller battery is charged and recharged far more often, and Pratt suggested that the increased amount of cycling for the batteries will make hybrids a good test bed for the new technology. Quote Edited January 12, 2022 by Harley Lover https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a38711469/toyota-solid-state-batteries-2025/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-dubz Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 More capacity/range and faster charging times seems like a no brainer for an EV. I wonder why they decided to go with a hybrid here? Seems like they aren’t taking full advantage of the benefits of the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 1 hour ago, T-dubz said: I wonder why they decided to go with a hybrid here? Seems like they aren’t taking full advantage of the benefits of the battery. It’s right there in the quote. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-dubz Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 21 minutes ago, akirby said: It’s right there in the quote. Haha yep there it is. I read the first quote thinking it was a summary of the second. That’s what I get for being lazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 13 hours ago, Harley Lover said: An interesting approach, makes a lot of sense for Toyota's product portfolio: I get what they're saying/doing, but gotta love the line - "repeated charging takes a toll on early prototypes" so lets put it in a hybrid that is literally constantly recharging and discharging. That'll help things lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 9 hours ago, rmc523 said: I get what they're saying/doing, but gotta love the line - "repeated charging takes a toll on early prototypes" so lets put it in a hybrid that is literally constantly recharging and discharging. That'll help things lol. It was the opposite. It was so they could test it in real world use and see if it’s a problem before committing to it on full BEVs. If it works on hybrids with constant recharging then BEVs should be fine. Of course you assume they would only do that if it tested ok in the lab first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Lover Posted January 13, 2022 Author Share Posted January 13, 2022 4 hours ago, akirby said: Of course you assume they would only do that if it tested ok in the lab first. Exactly. I like their approach, and they are one of the only OEM's (Ford is another) that have enough hybrid sales to use this approach. The more I read about issues with dendrites in solid state batteries, the more I appreciate Toyota's approach. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 22 hours ago, Harley Lover said: Exactly. I like their approach, and they are one of the only OEM's (Ford is another) that have enough hybrid sales to use this approach. The more I read about issues with dendrites in solid state batteries, the more I appreciate Toyota's approach. If you really think about it, Hybrids are the sweet spot of the market, not plugins or all electric. They sip very little gas, do not use the grid system, are cheaper, weigh less, and run in electric mode most of the time in city driving. Maybe some day BEVs will be in the sweet spot, but that is years off. Toyota gets it, and Ford keeps offering new hybrids almost every year lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 14 minutes ago, FordBuyer said: If you really think about it, Hybrids are the sweet spot of the market, not plugins or all electric. They sip very little gas, do not use the grid system, are cheaper, weigh less, and run in electric mode most of the time in city driving. Maybe some day BEVs will be in the sweet spot, but that is years off. Toyota gets it, and Ford keeps offering new hybrids almost every year lately. I'm guessing things have improved, but I'm not particularly impressed at the lack of smoothness with the powertrain on my 12 year Fusion Hybrid. The other thing I noticed is since it got cold out, the battery isn't used all that much at all on it, its pure ICE. Overall Performance isn't the greatest either. My wife's 2017 Escape with the 2L Ecoboost feels like a speed demon vs it LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 15 minutes ago, silvrsvt said: I'm guessing things have improved, but I'm not particularly impressed at the lack of smoothness with the powertrain on my 12 year Fusion Hybrid. The other thing I noticed is since it got cold out, the battery isn't used all that much at all on it, its pure ICE. Overall Performance isn't the greatest either. My wife's 2017 Escape with the 2L Ecoboost feels like a speed demon vs it LOL. I assure you with the Escape hybrid, the transition is seamless. And the system has 200 hp, so acceleration is decent. Can't comment much about cold weather living in Fl, but we do get cold mornings in winter, and haven't noticed much difference. And after 10,000 miles, we are averaging 46.6 mpg. What's not to like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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