Volkswagen join Toyota, BMW, Dyson and more in the race for EV Solid-State batteries

Volkswagen has made a £75 million investment in QuantumScape – a California battery tech company – as it aims to deliver solid state batteries for EVs by 2025.

The naysayers still doubt that solid state batteries for electric cars can be a reality in the short term, but car makers are tapping in to the technology in a big way, and making promises which, if fulfilled, will be a big leap forward for electric cars.

Toyota has been busy playing with solid state batteries for years, and are aiming to have them ready for production in the next three years, BMW has joined in the race to develop the batteries, Dyson is heading down the same route and Honda look to be doing the same whilst keeping their cards close to their chest.

Now it’s Volkswagen’s turn to pitch in to the race in a more meaningful way, taking a £75 million stake in Californian battery tech specialists QuantumScape – after a collaboration going back a number of years – and plan to have solid state batteries ready for production by 2025, claiming to have already successfully tested the batteries at scale comparable to an EV.

If all this effort and money pays off, we’ll see solid state EVs arrive by 2025 at the latest, offering a smaller size, higher capacity, lower cost and much increased range. They will also be easier to manage as they don’t require cooling.

If, as now seems likely, solid state batteries are going to be viable for EVs in the next few years, you can expect a range much the same as an ICE car, re-charging which takes just minutes and lower costs which will deliver EVs at prices comparable to an ICE car.

And, in the process, see the current batch of lithium-ion EVs look like technology from the Ark.