Driving an electric car on a single charge from London to Milan sounds like an impossible dream. Yet Japanese carmaker Toyota claims that by 2027 motorists will be able to buy such a vehicle. Running the air conditioner at full blast might reduce such an impressive range, but Toyota says drivers will be able to recharge in 10 minutes before they are back on the road. If this all sounds too good to be true, that’s because it probably is.
What Toyota says it has found is nothing less than the holy grail of battery technology – the so-called solid state solution – which has long eluded the industry. Instead of a liquid core, the new battery has a solid one between electrodes. This means it is smaller and can store more energy – delivering a bigger range for the same weight. The heavy flammable liquid cores can also overheat and explode. Since 2017, UK emergency services have attended hundreds of electric vehicle fires.
