Toyota, Idemitsu tie up to mass-produce all-solid-state batteries

TOKYO (Reuters) -Toyota Motor and Idemitsu Kosan have formed an alliance to develop and mass-produce all-solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, the companies said on Thursday.

The partnership follows an announcement in June by Toyota (NYSE:), the world’s biggest automaker by sales, that it would introduce the high-performance batteries to improve the driving range and reduce costs of future EVs in a strategic pivot.

Toyota, which has been slow in adopting pure-battery powered EVs, trumpeted at the time a “technological breakthrough” that addresses durability problems in solid-state batteries and said it is developing means to mass produce those batteries.

Idemitsu and Toyota said in a statement on Thursday they would aim to commercialise the next-generation batteries in 2027-28, followed by full-scale mass production.

Toyota President Koji Sato and Idemitsu President Shunichi Kito will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT) on Thursday.

Solid-state batteries can hold more energy than current liquid electrolyte batteries and automakers and analysts expect them to speed transition to EVs.

An EV powered by a solid-state battery would have a range of 1,200 km and charging time of just 10 minutes, according to Toyota.

Still, such batteries are expensive and likely to remain so for years.

Idemitsu, Japan’s second-biggest oil refiner, has been expanding into EV battery supply chains, increasing its stake in Australian lithium developer Delta Lithium to 15% earlier this year amid a global push by automakers to electrify their fleets.