Chery Claims to Have 1 GWh Solid-State Battery Production Line

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Lithium-ion batteries have led us into this modern electric vehicle era, and completely dominate the industry. There’s been hype and enthusiasm for future-gen batteries for years, and none more so than solid-state batteries. But these have been trapped in labs and mostly a technology of hope and hype. Perhaps that is changing now.

Chery, a large Chinese automaker, now claims to have a GWh-level all-solid-state battery production line under development in Wuhu, Anhui Province. This is being developed jointly by Anhui Anwa New Energy Co., Ltd. and the Wuhu Economic and Technological Development Zone. “The Anhui Daily reported that containers of equipment were delivered on November 18 to the factory site located in the Wuhu Economic and Technological Development Zone,” CarNewsChina writes.

The site has the capacity for a 5 GWh battery production facility. This first phase is being developed on 150 mu (100,000 square meters) and cost “just” $1.25 billion. It’s the first of a few phases planned for the factory.

“Compared with traditional batteries, solid-state batteries are safer, more environmentally friendly, and the energy density will be greatly improved,” said Gao Lixin, general manager of Anhui Anwa New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. This is the dream — more environmentally friendly, better, and cheaper.

While the energy density of the first solid-state batteries planned for production at this factory is expected to be 280 Wh/kg, company expectations are that a second-generation version of the solid-state batteries, coming next year, will reach 400 Wh/kg. And then a third generation is expected to have 500 Wh/kg energy density and reach market in 2027.

Does all of this mean other companies will be producing solid-state batteries soon? Is the Chery news legitimate, or more hopes and hype? It’s very hard to tell at this point, but all the signs are promising. We’ll see if these batteries are included in mass-market electric vehicle models.