We have been talking about the Evolution of electric cars and how necessary it is to gain the confidence of the drivers. It seems that the next few years will be crucial, since there are a good number of manufacturers working in the next generation of batteries. This element is the key in a vehicle of this type, since it is the one that makes the difference in its performance and its value. Mercedes is already testing its solid state battery in real conditions and the results are being satisfactory. There is no date of arrival in production, but it looks potential.
Mercedes Amg High Performance Powertrains (HPP) is the subsidiary Manager of the desktop that keeps them in Formula 1 and also those in charge of this project. They created a solid state battery prototype that was mounted on a Mercedes EQS to serve as a test laboratory. They have already begun to roll on open road and the first results surprise. In equal weight and size, it has been observed that a Autonomy of 25 % higher to the current lithium batteries.
To get the current EQS 450+ with 118 kWh battery already offers an autonomy of 820 kilometers. With the solid state battery The goal is to exceed 1,000 kilometersa figure that would give a very high level of trust to electric owners, since it even exceeds what most combustion cars get. To achieve this, technology is key, which has little to do with the previous one. In these batteries Use a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid as with the current ones.
This translates into an improvement in cell safety and also allows the use of new anodes such as lithium metal. The energy density can increase to 450 wh/kg and in the same way autonomy increases. Having a higher energy density, the battery weight can be reduced, always linked to that of the vehicle. To develop this technology, Mercedes has the help of Factorial, a field specialist. They have one patent for floating cell support and they enter the race for being the first to bring technology to production.
