Toyota develops electric vehicle battery technology

Toyota agreed; Japan’s largest automaker has agreed to work with Japan’s largest oil refinery company, Idemitsu Kosan, on technology for mass production of solid-state batteries, which are expected to be a major component of future electric cars. This deal is an important step for Toyota, which has promised to accelerate offers of electric cars that operate on batteries and catch up after it lagged behind its competitors, such as Tesla Motors and China’s BYD. Toyota lags behind because of its success with hybrid cars, such as the Prius, which have both gasoline and battery-powered engines. Toyota and Idemitsu, which owns materials technologies, said they aim for successful commercialization of fully solid-state batteries in 2027 or 2028, followed by large-scale mass production. Lithium-ion batteries are now commonly used, and their components are liquid, but they are susceptible to fires, while solid-state batteries are more stable and powerful.