Solid-state batteries are the next big advance set to come from Nissan – and its future sports cars could be the models that benefit the most.
The firm is currently developing a new pilot line for solid-state batteries at its facility in Yokohama, Japan, and its target is to launch series-production EVs using the technology by 2028.
These batteries have the potential to offer a significant technology leap for electric cars. Their greater density and more advanced technical make-ups enable much longer ranges and faster charging compared with today’s lithium ion packs.
Asked which sort of vehicles solid-state batteries will be used in, Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s global vice-president of product planning, told Autocar: “You can imagine multiple things, because you can package as much energy in half the space. So you easily apply it to things like sports cars.”
Espinosa said he was “not ready to talk about costs” but did acknowledge that “initially, the cost might be high”.
He added: “But as the technology matures, costs will go down. And because it has greater density, you need less material per battery in order to deliver the same amount of power, so the overall cost should be competitive.”
Solid-state batteries are likely to appear first in the production version of Nissan’s Hyper Force concept, the radical electric successor to the Nissan GT-R.
The tightly packaged flagship would be the perfect car to introduce the technology, hinted Espinosa.
“You can bring it to small cars, because it will be easier to package in a kei car, or maximise the cabin space in a big SUV,” he added.
