Engineers and Scientists working at Toyota say they have made significant technical breakthroughs in EV battery technology which could see drivers charging their cars for just 10 minutes to produce over 1,000 km of range.

“For both our liquid and solid-state batteries, we are aiming to drastically change the situation where current batteries are too big, heavy and expensive,” said Keiji Kaita, president of Toyota’s research and development centre for carbon neutrality. 

“In terms of potential, we will aim to halve all of these factors,” the FT reported.

Toyota told investors it was working on a 2027-28 commercial rollout for the new battery technology.

The company also said teams were working on pushing the cruising range up even further — to some 1,500km on a single charge. 

“All of our members are highly motivated and are working with the intention to definitely launch” the technology by the promised timeline, said Kaita.

The Solid State Battery Solution

The distances and low charging times are the result of solid-state battery tech.

Current batteries use liquid-state flows, to transport ions between the cathode (positive) and anode (negative), and this movement creates electrical potential. A solid-state battery removes this liquid and replaces it with a solid substance like ceramics or glass.

These solid-state batteries allow for more energy storage and longer distances.

“What we’re hearing from today’s automakers and some of these battery manufacturers is that you’ll go further on a single charge than you would in a current lithium-ion device,” CSIRO Principal Research Scientist Dr Adam Best told Australian Broadcasting Corporation recently.

The main problem facing the R&D teams was the cost of making solid-state batteries.

Cost reductions were being achieved by reducing the number of required processes.