Honda Attempts Solving the Biggest Solid-State Battery Problem: Presenting an Innovative Solution

Dec 02, 2023 04:28 AM EST

WHITE CAR — (Photo : PEXELS/Albert Nunez)

Honda, known for its reliability, is addressing a major electric vehicle issue. While the company has traditionally been associated with steadfast internal combustion engines, it cautiously ventured into the EV market, focusing primarily on hybrid vehicles and hydrogen-powered options.

Enhancing Solid-State Battery Lifespan for Safer and Better Electric Cars

Behind the scenes, Honda may have made significant strides in overcoming a pivotal issue that can diminish the lifespan of these advanced battery technologies. Solid-state batteries are known for being safer and could make electric cars much better.

However, new study has revealed further information on their effectiveness and dependability. Updates regarding this endeavor were available at TopSpeed report. According to the report , TopSpeed sources the most recent and dependable data from reputable websites of manufacturers as well as widely read trade journals including Motor Trend, Hagerty, Ars Technica, and Car & Driver.

Honda's research into solid-state batteries could lead to a good solution to a big problem and affect the progress made in electric vehicle (EV) technology

Dendrites: The Need to Address Solid Battery Problem

Dendrites, these tree-shaped crystalline structures, are a persistent challenge within lithium-based batteries. Their appearance can be very bad because they can cause short-circuits inside the battery, which makes it useless.

Dendrites form over the course of a lithium-ion battery's lifecycle, as it goes through many rounds of being charged and then discharged. At the molecular level, these very small, rough lithium crystals look a lot like tiny trees with branches, which shows how complicated and difficult the problem is.

According to Battery Power, today, lithium-ion batteries are the dominant choice for portable rechargeable power sources, serving as the energy backbone for a wide range of electronic devices. When examining reported incidents, it becomes evident that battery failures often stem from internal short circuits triggered by the formation of lithium dendrites.

In certain cases, dendrites have exhibited such rapid and rigid growth that they ended up piercing the separator between the battery's electrodes. Consequently, this caused a short circuit in the lithium metal battery, and in certain scenarios, resulted in unanticipated combustion.

The Innovation: Solid State Battery

As time passes, the accumulation of these spurs can overwhelm a solid-state battery, potentially causing severe damage to its charging and power output mechanisms. This can result in accelerated degradation well beyond the typical rate or, in the most extreme scenarios, result in the complete destruction of both the battery and the vehicle it powers.

To put it plainly, solid-state batteries store energy within solid materials, as opposed to other battery types where energy is stored in a liquid or paste. Historically, solid-state batteries have found their niche in small-scale devices like pacemakers and hearing aids. The idea of large-scale solid-state batteries for vehicles has not been realized thus far, but the automotive industry is eagerly seeking their development to replace the ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries currently utilized in almost every electric vehicle (EV).

They help automakers minimize EV powertrain weight and size by being smaller, lighter, and more energy dense. This could extend electric car ranges. Fast-charging solid-state batteries help EV adoption. Solid-state batteries are safer than lithium-ion batteries, boosting vehicle safety. Solid-state batteries could make electric cars safer, more efficient, and practical.