Honda aims for 50% solid-state battery pack weight reduction in mass market EVs

Last year, Honda announced that it will "build a demonstration line for the production of all-solid-state batteries with an investment of approximately 43 billion yen and further accelerate the research with a goal to start demonstration production in Spring 2024" as part of its US$40 billion portfolio electrification strategy.

The pilot solid-state battery production seems to be progressing as planned, as Honda execs recently sat for an interview to confirm their plans for EVs powered by cells with a solid-state electrolyte. Unlike US automakers which have directly applied their "bigger is better" ICE vehicle approach to EVs, leading to the 200 kWh Hummer EV or Escalade IQ, Honda considers the opposite approach as optimal.

Fundamentally, the answer to range anxiety is not more battery, it’s better access to charging. You don’t necessarily need 600-mile BEVs if there’s more accessible charging. And the technology will continue to improve. We’ve already announced we’re in a proof-of-concept stage with solid state, and that has potential to reduce weight and increase the range of the vehicle.

According to Honda's internal testing, the energy density increase that the solid-state battery technology will bring, allows for a 50% reduction in the weight of the battery pack. "Simply, the energy density would be doubled. So same energy, same volume base, kind of half [the weight]," says Honda's EV strategy head Shinji Aoyama.

As to how does Honda plan to benefit from all that solid-state battery lightness, Mr Ayoma informed that "once we introduce all solid state, maybe at that time, we may put double the energy volume into the same car," referring to its existing EV platform and planned models like the Acura ZDX.

The future belongs to mass market electric vehicles that will be smaller and cheaper than the current models for early adopters, though, like Tesla's upcoming Model 2.

Honda is preparing for that era as well, with Shinji Aoyama adding that "once we develop something new, then we will apply a smaller battery case for that product," referring to the EV design flexibility that solid-state batteries bring.

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