China Tests Battery That Doubles Range and Costs Less

Electric cars just got a major boost that could make them both cheaper and more powerful at the same time.

China's FAW, which partners with Volkswagen, has successfully tested a new semi-solid-state battery that packs 500 watt-hours per kilogram of energy. That's double what today's standard batteries can deliver.

The real game-changer isn't just the power. The battery actually costs less to make because researchers swapped expensive nickel for manganese, which is cheap and plentiful.

FAW tested the battery in a real car, installing a 142 kilowatt-hour pack where a conventional battery half that size used to sit. The vehicle traveled over 620 miles on a single charge, and the battery pack was no bigger than a traditional one.

The breakthrough came from a partnership between FAW's battery subsidiary CANEB and researchers at Nankai University. They took a different path than other companies developing advanced batteries, focusing on keeping costs down while boosting performance.

Professor Chen Jun's team developed the battery using special composite electrolyte technology that provides better conductivity and safety. The lithium-manganese design delivers more than double the energy density of the best current batteries.

FAW isn't stopping there. The company's next prototype battery will pack 200 kilowatt-hours and deliver close to 700 miles of range, making range anxiety a thing of the past.

The Ripple Effect

This advancement could accelerate electric vehicle adoption worldwide by solving two major barriers at once. Cheaper batteries mean more affordable electric cars for families, while longer range eliminates the fear of running out of power on road trips.

China has established the first official classification system for solid-state batteries, which takes effect in July. The system categorizes batteries by how much solid electrolyte they contain, creating clear standards for the industry.

Major manufacturers including CATL and BYD plan to integrate fully solid-state batteries into vehicles by 2027. Dongfeng expects to begin mass production of thousand-kilometer-range batteries this September.

The technology can be produced on existing manufacturing lines, avoiding the expensive retooling that fully solid-state batteries require. This means the batteries could reach consumers faster and at lower prices.

Meanwhile, a Finnish startup called Donut Lab claims to have already produced true solid-state batteries with similar performance that charge in under five minutes. While some industry experts have questioned those claims, the race to better batteries is heating up globally.

The future of affordable, long-range electric vehicles is arriving faster than anyone expected.