After years of promises, finally a concrete announcement: we start from a niche, but solid state batteries are really arriving
Gotiona Chinese company owned by Volkswagen through a 25% stake, recently communicated to investors positive developments regarding its industrial plan for the production of solid state batteries intended for electric cars. According to the company’s current forecasts, the start of production for integration into vehicles will begin already by the end of this year, albeit on a smaller scale.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT
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The news was communicated directly by Gotionresponding to a question received through the investor interaction platform: the Chinese company announced that it has substantially completed the design work of its first mass production line of solid-state batteries. This announcement formalizes the transition from the pilot-scale validation phase, previously tested on a 0.2 GWh line (which recorded a 90% rate of return), to the planning phase on industrial scale. Gotion also specified that both the main equipment and the architecture of the battery production line were developed internally, taking advantage of a large amount of patents owned by the company itself and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers.
SOLID STATE BATTERIES
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Solid state technology will significantly change the electric car market, thanks to the use of solid electrodes instead of the traditional liquid electrolytes used in lithium ion batteries. This difference limits the risks of overheating and thermal runaway, raising the safety standards. The cells developed by Gotion, known as Jinshi (GemstoneMeaning what “gemstone“, will be the commercial name in English for the international market), use a solid sulphide-based electrolyte and reach an energy density at the single cell level equal to 350 Wh/kgwith a 40% increase compared to conventional ternary lithium batteries with liquid electrolyte. The prototypes demonstrated operational stability over a temperature range of -40°C to 100°C and passed extreme mechanical and thermal safety tests, including penetration with steel needles, without generating ignitions or explosions. Tests also indicate a life cycle of three thousand recharges, corresponding to a mileage of approximately one million kilometres.
WE START IN 2026
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Gotion’s plans foresee the start of the construction of a production line characterized by a soon annual capacity of 2 GWhwhich will be able to produce the cells necessary for the construction (net of waste) of just 20 thousand 100 kWh batteries. Considering these initial production volumes, therefore, the plant will initially serve only the electric car market premium segmentby the end of 2026. All this in view of true large-scale mass production, scheduled for 2030. Since Gotion is a company in the Volkswagen galaxy, it is not surprising that among the first buyers of the new batteries there will be the brands of the German group, Audi first and foremost.
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