Electric cars have come a long way in the last ten years. Ranges are much longer, and batteries can hold larger capacities. However, charging times, though much better than before, still take a while.
There has been a lot of talk about solid-state batteries. To simplify what these are, it’s twice as energy dense as the current crop of batteries in most EVs today. But more importantly, these can be fully charged from zero in 10 to 15 minutes. Simply put, owning an EV will almost be like owning a fuel-fed car once these become mainstream.
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The race is on to be the first automaker to sell solid-state battery-powered vehicles to the mass market. The big Japanese automakers are in on it, and so are the Germans. Let’s not forget that the Chinese are hell bent on world domination in the automotive space.
One of the Chinese companies determined to be the first is MG. Speaking to Autocar, Yu Jingmin, executive vice president of SAIC’s passenger vehicle operations, he said that MG will have theirs ready by 2025. The executive added that it will be unveiled during the first half of 2025 and be on sale in the latter half.
That’s a bold claim given that MG previously said it will be able to produce and install solid-state batteries by 2026. For comparison, Toyota said its batteries will be ready by 2027, while BMW’s forecasts put its solid-state batteries for production by 2030.
Aside from being energy dense and having shorter charging times, there is another major advantage that solid-state batteries have over lithium-ion packs. These batteries are far more compact than the one’s we’re seeing at the moment, meaning significant weight savings and allows for more efficient interior packaging for engineers to play around with.
For now, MG isn’t saying which model it will install these batteries in, but it’s likely for a flagship model in its mother company’s range, SAIC. From there, it’s likely that it will trickle down to the rest of SAIC’s brands, MG included.
