What is a Solid-State Battery for an Electric Car?
A solid-state battery is a rechargeable energy storage system similar in overall structure and operation to the more familiar lithium-ion battery. The two differ in that a lithium-ion battery contains a liquid electrolyte while a solid-state battery—as its name suggests—features a solid one. This allows solid-state batteries to be lighter, have more energy density, offer more range, and recharge faster. The challenge to making solid-state batteries viable is developing technology commonly used in small devices and applying it to large-scale applications like electric vehicles (EVs).