[Auto] Toyota Reveals Plans for EVs with 621-Mile Range, Solid-State Batteries

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Altering its course, Toyota has announced heavy investments in EV production, including three new batteries and entirely reworked production lines.
Solid-state batteries as well as NCM Monopolar technology with a claimed 621 miles of range make up the future of Toyota's BEVs.
In the footsteps of Tesla, Toyota will employ giga casting as well as autonomous production lines overseas, while the company simultaneously builds a North American battery research facility in Michigan.
Toyota hasn't exactly jumped on the electric vehicle bandwagon. With one dedicated EV crossover on the market and a few new hybrid models, it's loosely keeping up with broad industry standards while remaining wedded to the hybrid sector it pioneered. In fact, the brand lost its former CEO and public EV skeptic, Akio Toyoda, earlier this year in a corporate restructuring focused on electrification, replacing Toyoda with former Lexus branding officer Koji Sato.

The months since Sato's appointment have been markedly different, as Toyota softens its EV stance and even hints at an impending new electric architecture. But Toyota is taking it one step further this week, confirming an overhaul of its electric-vehicle production and parts processes.

Unveiling a sort of technology road map, Toyota confirms it will launch a more durable, energy-dense nickel cobalt manganese lithium-ion battery by 2026, with 621 miles of range and a fast-charge time of 20 minutes. These bZ4x-adjacent NCM batteries will be reserved for performance vehicles or high-end luxury models, though Toyota has a plan for its lower-end units as well.

Using the bipolar structure battery (found in the Japanese-market Aqua and Crown hybrid vehicles), Toyota will expand this LFP technology to new BEV models, with the company claiming a 20 percent increase in cruising range and a 40% reduction in cost compared to the current bZ4x.

EV enthusiasts can also expect a high-performance version of Ni-series bipolar lithium-ion batteries, indicating the possibility of low-cost, high-performance EVs to come from Toyota. These batteries will feature a high-nickel cathode, increasing range by 10 percent while lowering costs 10 percent, and are set for practical use by 2028.

 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44189478/toyota-ev-plans-solid-state-batteries/