TEMPO.CO, Tokyo - Toyota is undergoing an engineering production of an electric car battery development (EV) with solid electrolytes, as reported by The Wall Street Journal and Chunichi Shimbun from Japan.

The report shows the new battery will debut in Japan in 2022, with a new car model with a new platform, as quoted by Arstechnica, Wednesday, July 26, 2017.

The solid state battery has solid electrodes and solid electrolytes. Solid-state batteries can be built smaller and lighter than lithium-ion batteries that currently support electric vehicles, but developing the battery at an appealing price point for mass production has been a challenge in its own right.

Chunichi Shimbun reported that the Toyota battery will be charged within minutes and will be able to run for a great distance, but the article does not specify.

Solid-state batteries will also reduce the risk of fire that appears on the lithium-ion battery, as it uses liquid electrolyte. Since the electrolytes will not be in danger of freezing, it can withstand a wider range of temperatures.

Being able to consistently produce solid-state batteries for use in electric vehicles will give Toyota an edge over rivals such as Nissan, Tesla and Daimler, assuming the companies are not capable of delivering sophisticated batteries to their cars in the next five years. Reuters also reported that BMW is also working on solid-state batteries.

Over the years, Toyota has been pushing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles like Mirai as an advanced automotive technology to watch out for. The automaker even broke its partnership with Tesla to develop an all-electric RAV4 in 2014 and declare a fuel cell vehicle is a model of the future.

Toyota has also been working on advanced batteries for electric cars for years. In early 2011, Toyota has been working closely with academic researchers to refine the crystal structure that will move lithium ion through solid electrolytes, and early last year the company presented a paper showing batteries that can withstand temperatures from -30 degrees celsius to 100 degrees celsius.

ARSTECHNICA | ERWIN Z