Nissan edges closer to solid-state battery breakthrough, but this EV race could have one big downside

• Nissan partners with LiCAP Technologies to speed up mass production
• The company has already opened pilot lines at its manufacturing plants
• Rollout of the technology could be in the next couple of years

Nissan has joined the growing list of automakers and battery manufacturers that have reported recent progress in all-solid-state battery technology.

Fierce rivals Toyota, for example, only announced last week that it is already looking to mass produce the game-changing EV battery breakthrough that it claims will offer fasting charging speeds, improved electric range and better battery pack longevity.

Although all-solid-state-batteries (let’s call them ASSBs for brevity) have proven their capabilities in prototypes and testing environments, they have so far not made it into a widely available commercial application due to the complex and costly manufacturing process.

According to Nikkei, Nissan secured a partnership with US-based LiCAP Technologies last month – a company that uses a novel “Activated Dry Electrode” technology that is said to reduce the expensive and toxic traditional “wet electrode process”.

In addition to this, the Japanese manufacturer is well on its way to having fully functioning solid-state battery assembly lines running at its Yokohama plant, having opened pilot lines at the beginning of the year.

Recently, the prototype cells produced on these pilot lines reached a significant milestone by hitting the performance targets required for mass production, so it is only a matter of time before Nissan can start looking to implement them in a commercially available EV product.

Analysis: Chasing solid-state could put the brakes on new EVs

The all-solid-state-battery race is heating up every month, as more automakers and battery producers go public with claims of epic mileage in the real world (check out the work of Mercedes-Benz) or breakthroughs in mass production processes that could help bring the tech to market.

Earlier this month, Toyota said it would be the first to "achieve the world’s first practical use of all-solid-state batteries in BEVs" with a proposed date of 2027, although this has also been claimed by Chinese battery giants CATL and BYD.

In reality, China’s SAIC Motor, which owns the MG brand, has edged the closest so far by offering the new MG4 with a semi-solid-state battery, but its statistics are still some way off those promise by ASSBs.

Alas, the major worry for consumers right now is that automakers stop developing current EV battery chemistries while they wait for the arrival of the rangier mass produced solid-state tech, which in turn could see buyers also sitting tight.

Nissan, as an example, stopped selling its Ariya EV in North America recently due to slow uptake and the impact of numerous tariffs, leaving just the all-new Leaf as the company’s sole EV offering in the US.

Elsewhere, Nissan will offer both the Micra (based heavily on the Renault 5 EV) and the updated Leaf, but it’s not exactly the all-encompassing electric line-up that helps customers make a transition to electrification.

It is a similar story with Honda, which seems to be waiting on its new 0 Series and the introduction of solid-state batteries to make its big EV splash, which means the next few years could be pretty slow for new EV models from established automakers.

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