Honda’s Solid-State Batteries Target a 620-Mile Range and a Late-2020s Arrival Date

Solid-state batteries are widely considered the “next step” in EV development, offering better efficiency, packaging options, and range than today’s battery chemistries. Despite that excitement, engineering and manufacturing the components have proven difficult, though many automakers continue pushing toward a solution. Honda is the latest to talk about its solid-state battery program, saying that it would have a “game changer” breakthrough with staggering range and costs.

Honda said its new packs would cost as much as 25 percent less than lithium-ion batteries and have a range of up to 620 miles (1,000 km). The automaker’s engineers detailed the program in a briefing late last month and announced a new pilot production program.

The Japanese company wants to cut internal combustion from its lineup by 2040 and said that the solid-state batteries would help it reach that goal when they debut near the end of the decade. Despite that ambition, executives have acknowledged that there are still significant hurdles to overcome, including the fact that Honda’s current prototype solid-state batteries are too small to work in EVs.

The pilot program aims to help Honda overcome that challenge, but the gulf between today’s tech and the capabilities needed to power a mass-market EV is extreme. Honda said its batteries need to be 100 times bigger than the prototype units, which isn’t a number it can meet overnight.

[Images: Honda]

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