The State Of Solid-State

The State Of Solid-State

Most of today’s electric vehicles use a Lithium battery with a liquid electrolyte.

Arguably, Tesla’s 4680 battery pack, based on patents purchased from Canadian startup Springpower for $3.00 (true story), is the best of the current breed. motortrend.com

Although there is a lot of work being done on other battery chemistry, the next big battery advancement is likely the shift to solid-state cells. caranddriver.com

If you’ve been following the news around solid-state batteries (SSBs), they feel like they are perpetually just “five years away.” youtube.com

However, the promise of safer, cost-effective solid electrolyte (solectro) batteries with more range and faster charge times is getting closer to reality nearly daily. evmagazine.com

Honda plans to have solid-state batteries in production vehicles by the end of the 2020s. global.honda

Toyota expects to have SSBs in production around the same time. toyotatimes.jp

Mercedes-Benz is testing a solid-state battery today that could unlock a range of more than 620 miles (nearly 1,000 km) on a single charge. The first production vehicles to use them are scheduled to hit the roads before the end of the decade as well. autocar.co.uk

BYD expects its first EVs with solid-state batteries to arrive in 2027. electrek.co

Stellantis is working with Factorial to install solid-state batteries in a fleet of EVs based on the STLA Large EV platform. They expect these vehicles to be on the road by 2026. stellantis.com

GAC Aion's Hyper brand said it will put 1,000 km solid-state batteries in all its vehicles by 2026. reuters.com

Hyundai plans to open its new solid-state battery manufacturing facility in March and expects to have prototype EVs using its SSBs in testing by the end of 2025. motor1.com

CATL started sample validation of its solid-state cells last year. cnevpost.com

The solid-state battery race is on. Who will get there first? Your guess is as good as mine.

What are Tesla’s solid-state battery plans? Elon was too busy wielding a chainsaw at CPAC to comment. cnn.com

Nissan Keeps Swiping Right

Japan wants to find Nissan a dance partner. To that end, they asked Nissan to keep swiping right until they find an appropriate suitor. arstechnica.com

Rumours were flying around the internet this week that former Tesla board member Hiromichi Mizuno was heading up a group to ask Elon to save Nissan. He posted on Twitter (x) denying the claim. bloomberg.com

Taiwan's Foxconn has proposed a partnership with Honda, creating a four-way framework that would also include Nissan and Mitsubishi. reuters.com

Don’t call it a comeback, but Honda is reportedly considering relaunching merger talks with Nissan on condition that Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida steps down. auto123.com

Like many high school romances, maybe Honda wants to date Nissan’s best friend, Mitsubishi, instead. theautopian.com

Renault outright says it doesn’t want to dance with Nissan. bloomberg.com

In the interim, Nissan's credit rating was cut to speculative (junk) by Moody’s Ratings, leaving it still standing at the side of the high school gymnasium wall with no dance partner. bloomberg.com

China’s Automotive Expansion

BYD’s new Fang Cheng Bao Bao 5 went on sale. This updated model features roof-mounted LiDAR; multiple advanced drivers assist options, and a new in-car AI-based voice assistant. carnewschina.com

Li Auto plans to make LiDAR standard on all new vehicles. cnevpost.com

Denza’s new N9 flagship PHEV with 1,300 km of combined range has a starting price of around $62,000 USD. carnewschina.com

The first vehicle from Huawei and SAIC Motor’s joint venture is expected to have a starting price of around $20,700 USD. cnevpost.com

Xpeng has started selling its luxury MPV in Thailand. cnevpost.com

Zeekr and Lynk & Co. plans to expand their overseas sales network to a total of over 200 dealerships this year. reuters.com

CATL signs a deal with VW to deepen their partnership in battery research, new materials application, and components development. batteriesnews.com

Must Know Musk News (a.k.a. The DOGE Douche)

Maybe Elon should stop bringing his kids to work. theguardian.com

YouTube personality iJustine faces backlash for asking if Elon was having a nice Presidents Day. uniladtech.com

Danish astronaut Andreas “Andy” Mogensen accused Elon of lying when he claimed in a Fox News interview that NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left stranded for “political reasons” by Biden. theguardian.com

DOGE cuts the governmental team in charge of overseeing the safety of autonomous vehicles in half (the miracle of small numbers). theverge.com

Cybertruck gets a 5-star crash rating. theverge.com

China might delay approval for Tesla robotaxi testing. ft.com

Tesla has a power steering problem. reuters.com

Tesla sales in Canada dropped by 70% from December 2024 to January 2025. driveteslacanada.ca

xAi’s Grok model suggests that Trump deserves the death penalty. x.com

Rise Of The Machines

China’s Stial Technologies robot, Stial Steven, is the first humanoid robot built exclusively for polishing tasks. interestingengineering.com

Israel’s Mentee Robotics unveils an updated version of its Menteebot humanoid robot with 360-degree vision and updated AI capabilities. interestingengineering.com

Figure’s humanoid robot is now voice-activated. techcrunch.com

Energy

Next Energy Technologies has a fancy new, larger transparent solar window. interestingengineering.com

The Donald promises to unleash U.S. energy dominance, with one caveat. That energy can’t come from the wind. cnbc.com

Brazil plans to join OPEC+. theglobeandmail.com

Plans for a multi-billion dollar canola processing plant in Saskatchewan to make bio-diesel have been put on hold. theglobeandmail.com

Cosco Ocean Shipping Heavy Industry Company built a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) oil rig vessel equipped with an onboard carbon capture system. interestingengineering.com

US agency that manages buildings owned by the government plans to shut down all of its EV chargers, describing them as “not mission critical.” theverge.com

Japan aims to take on China’s solar dominance. ft.com

But Wait, There’s More

Kia reveals photos of the PV5 EV passenger and cargo vans. caranddriver.com

The Volvo ES90 sedan emerges as a supercomputer on wheels. electrek.co

Toyota says it is committed to manufacturing in Canada regardless of Tariffs. autonews.com

Stellantis freezes all activity at its Brampton Assembly Plant (could it be because of the threat of Tariffs?). windsorstar.com

UNIFOR isn’t happy with Stellantis (nothing makes UNIFOR happy). theglobeandmail.com

GM’s CFO admits that if tariffs are implemented and become permanent, the company may need to relocate production. theglobeandmail.com

Some middle managers at Ford won’t get stock bonuses this year. reuters.com

Ford has a seat belt problem. reuters.com

Ford delays the production of next-gen F-150s. freep.com

Maserati has a rearview camera problem. reuters.com

Lucid has high hopes for Gravity SUV sales in Canada. autonews.com

Rivian has a headlight problem. reuters.com

I kinda love the look of the new Rivian R1T Dune edition. caranddriver.com

Does anyone want a gigcasting plant? Linimar has one they could sell you. autonews.com

Nikola finally files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to sell its assets. theverge.com

I did a podcast recording with Ian Cruickshank at his desk (virtually).

I’ll be in Calgary for the MDA Unworkshop on Wednesday, February 26th. Join me there! mdaalberta.com

Check out my podcast on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or wherever else you get your podcasts.

You read to the bottom. Amazing! You stay classy, San Diego.