Toyota will unveil a vehicle powered by solid state batteries at the 2020 Olympics as a means of showcasing its battery capability, the firm’s chief technology officer Shigeki Terashi has revealed ahead of the Tokyo motor show.
However, the solid state battery technology - which promises the potential for longer range in smaller and potentially cheaper battery packs which can also take charge faster - will not reach mass production until the middle of the decade, he added. When the technology is used in mass production vehicles it will be rolled out across the firm's entire line-up of EVs, he said.
"We will produce a car with solid state batteries and unveil it to you in 2020, but mass production with solid state batteries will be a little later," said Terashi, who also highlighted the battery know-how Toyota has accrued through its hybrid leadership developed with the Toyota Prius. While the solid state battery equipped car is expected to be a one-off prototype that will form some part of the event's opeing or closing ceremony, a further 12 semi-autonomous vehicles will run during the event using lithium-ion batteries.
That timeline still puts Toyota at the forefront of solid state battery technology. While Volkswagen has talked of a similar timeline, BMW, with which Toyota has various partnerships, has indicated that it doesn’t expect to be selling electrified vehicles using solid state batteries until 2030.
The Olympic show car is expected to be based on the Toyota e-Palette, an autonomous platform that the firm has developed and which it is offering to partners to use to showcase their own self-driving technologies.
An updated version of the e-Palette is expected to be shown at this year’s Tokyo motor show.
Terashi also confirmed that Toyota expects to launch its first electric vehicles on a dedicated EV platform for sale in Europe by the end 2023, with three electric vehicles - an electric Lexus on an existing platform, plus electrified versions of the Proace and Proace City vans, to be produced prior to 2021.
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Has any manufacturer made
Has any manufacturer made money from making EVs yet? I am sure Toyota will have a competative EV when they can sell them and make a profit, until then, why not let others take the lead?
Nissan and Renault
Back to Toyota, shame they didn't think of this before they bought out the Mirai, in the US they expect to lose around £100,000 per car lease!
Faster charging
When all the available chargers are being used and you're queuing up to get to one, that 5 mins per charge reduction will make a massive difference to your access to the next available charger.
If.... It's been said before
Example: I do 30k miles a year yet last year not one journey was over 150 miles in a day, so in my case I spent around 5 minutes x 52 4.5 hours in a petrol station over the year, if I'd had a Model 3 I'd wouldn't have spend a single minute at any station
Solid State R and D
That's all well and good and maybe Toyota might have something on the market by 2028 but the POTENTIAL advantages of Solid State batteries are diminishing and Toyota should concentrate on what's available now and for the next 7 years, oh and drop Hydrogen car production.
Wind it in buddy
Sounds like you think you are the customer insights guru...
The major barrier to entry for BEVs is the fact that a huge proportion of the world's car owning population don't have a driveway they can charge on.
The other major outstanding future prediction is that, as soon as electricity production is fully renuable, there will be a need for all four (ICE, BEV, HEV and HFC) in equal numbers.
Have a look at KPMGs Global Automotive Executive Survey for 2019 for some really interesting, qualified predictions.
Calmdown pal
I've never said EVERYONE needs/will have a BEV, I've always said horses for courses!! We can all make predictions by the way
That's you REBUKED!
Indeed, except yours are always duffers. Fool.