Honda Jump-Starts Limited Solid-State Battery Production

It seems we are rapidly approaching another pivotal moment in the development and adoption of all-electric vehicles, as more automakers prepare to produce next-gen, state-of-the-art solid-state battery technology. Now Honda has announced it will be among the first to get the new solid state battery technology onto a production line, at least in a limited capacity, to help further its development. Eventually the automaker hopes to scale the new batteries for use in everything from scooters and motorcycles to cars and SUVs in classic Honda fashion. Here's where Honda now stands.

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What Honda has so far accomplished is just an early step to mass production of solid state batteries for Honda vehicles, but it will now help the company determine best practices, new efficiencies in design that benefit the manufacturing process, as well as prepare every Honda production line for the next-gen technology. Think of this new 295,000 sq-ft. manufacturing facility for solid state batteries as a relatively small scale testbed, or as Honda calls it, a demonstration line, for how the company will approach implementation of the technology going forward.

Honda claims this development process will also help determine the size and capacity of its new solid state cells as they continue development. The production process includes: "weighing and mixing of electrode materials, coating and roll pressing of electrode assembly and the formation of cells, and assembly of the module," as well as verification and quality control for each step along the way. Honda says it plans to "conduct verification of mass production technologies and costs for each process, while also developing battery cell specifications" beginning in January 2025.

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Honda specifically outlines stated goals increasing "the degree of interfacial contact between the electrolyte and the electrodes" in each cell, as well as to consolidate "a series of assembly processes, including the bonding of positive and negative electrodes," to reduce the production time per cell, and "reduce indirect costs of battery production, including power consumption" including minute details like maintaining a "low dew point environment necessary to ensure work safety and battery performance."

So there you go: It's a brand-new, very dry factory designed to bring down costs and rapidly develop best manufacturing practices for a new technology. Honda says it should lead to "mass production" of the solid state batteries in the "second half" of the 2020s, so by the end of the decade. Honda says solid sate batteries will solve traditional EV issues like "range, price, and charging time," so they must be on to something. Honda also claims its a major milestone for the country of Japan, so take that, Subaru, Toyota, and Mitsubishi.