Chinese automakers and battery giants join forces in powerhouse EV partnership: 'We need to be prepared'

Wes Stenzel
·2 min read
2

Several major Chinese companies are teaming up to revolutionize batteries for electric vehicles.

Battery producers and automakers including CATL, BYD, and NIO are joining forces to create the China All-Solid-State Battery Collaborative Innovation Platform (CASIP), according to Electrek. The companies within the coalition supply batteries for global automakers like Toyota, Tesla, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, and many more major producers.

Solid-state batteries have a solid electrolyte at the core area of the battery that houses the charge-discharge cycle, which sets them apart from typical lithium-ion batteries. These solid-state batteries have a higher energy density, charge faster, can be constructed quickly, are safer than lithium-ion batteries, and weigh less.

With the formation of CASIP, China is looking to get ahead of the curve on solid-state batteries transforming the EV market. "We need to be prepared for the risk that all-solid-state battery technology could overturn" the EV battery industry, said Tsinghua University professor Ouyang Minggao. Toyota currently holds over 1,300 patents relating to all-solid-state batteries, whereas these Chinese companies have less than 100 — so CASIP intends to prompt the country's companies to catch up.

Streamlining EV production and improving EV capabilities can positively impact the planet and human life. Since EVs don't pollute nearly as much as their gas-guzzling counterparts, electric vehicles can help protect humans from the negative effects of petroleum-based vehicle pollution, such as extreme weather events exacerbated by increasing global temperatures.

The CASIP is just one of many ambitious undertakings that aims to help improve EV efficiency and get gas guzzlers off the streets worldwide. For example, Nissan has developed a clever way of repurposing old EVs as personal chargers for other types of electronic devices, and researchers at Cornell University found that metal-based power packs could hold the key to rapid five-minute charging that could wipe out range anxiety for good.

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