This week, Colorado company Solid Power announced that it will partner with BMW to develop solid-state battery technology that could bring increased driving range, longer battery life, and better temperature tolerance to electric cars. The German automaker will invest an undisclosed amount in Solid Power, intending ?to advance its technology in order to achieve performance levels required for high-performance electric vehicles.?
Although there?s a lot of buzz about solid-state batteries of late?and Toyota might have added to that in recent months?don?t expect BMW to bring the technology to production any time soon. Klaus Fröhlich, the BMW board member in charge of development and R&D activities, said that he doesn?t expect solid-state tech in a production vehicle from the company until at least 2025?partly because the temperature requirements remain too limited. Mass-market deployment won?t be until at least 2030, Fröhlich anticipates, in part because lithium-ion batteries keep getting better. Energy density is increasing 30 percent every two or three years, he told C/D, while costs fall significantly.
Different EVs, Same Building Blocks
BMW is keeping that solid-state technology in its R&D departments for now, because its focus for the next decade is to produce electrified vehicles at a far more rapid rate. It has taken BMW more than four years since the first deliveries of its i3 electric car to reach just 200,000 cumulative global sales of electrified models....