https://www.pcmag.com/news/toyota-inks-deal-to-mass-produce-solid-state-ev-batteries-with-932-mile
Unless they get very very cheap, I don't see people wanting a 932-mile battery for a normal passenger car.
Even if the cost per aH is half of what it is now, it still makes more sense for most people to buy a car with a 300-mile (Bay Area, L.A.) or 450-mile (Montana, Nevada) battery and, if they are truly going to go more than 400 miles without being able to charge, rent a gas car or, possibly, an extra battery that goes on a trailer.
Our recent trip took us down the so-called "loneliest highway in America," with as much as 163 miles between gas stations, but we passed multiple fast chargers in those 763 miles from our house to Moab.
I would say our trip would have taken an extra day each way in an EV (very happy with the PHEV choice), but with 450-mile range, an EV would be no problem, and by the time this tech is available, there will be a few more fast chargers along that route I'm sure.
So I think the 932 is just PR that assumes they will continue to carry around 1000 pounds of battery, which I just don't see, especially since shaving off 500 pounds has outsized benefits in hilly terrain where range takes a huge hit, just as it does in a gas car.
Do most people need 932 miles? No.
But does it make them feel secure to know they can do 932 miles? Yes.
Until every gas station has a charging place, many people are too freaked out to get an EV.
>secure
Darn right. I remember driving through either Wyoming or Montana and seeing those signs "Next gas stop 90 miles." You better believe I double checked the gas gauge. (Especially after seeing all the dead snakes on the shoulder of the Interstate, this was not a stretch of road to run out of gas on.)
Also, it's 932 miles under what conditions: hills, mountains, A/C blasting, sub-zero temps, sub-woofers sucking up the amps? Also, what about vehicles, like Jeeps, with the aerodynamics of a brick wall? I'd rather have a 932 mile battery in a Jeep and get realistically a 400 mile range than a 300 mile battery and have it conk out going to the dollar store.
> remember driving through
...10 hours on the Trans-Canada highway in the mid-70s
...having to do 85-90 mph just to stay with traffic (semis were blowing my doors off even at 90)
...in a Dodge muscle car from that era (you could see the gas needle move while sustaining 90 mph)
...at night
...next gas 165 km & when you got to the exit the sign said the station was 45km down the backroad
I'll take 2 of those batteries.
https://www.autoblog.com/news/honda-and-toyota-reveal-why-solid-state-batteries-still-arent-here
TL;DR: two problems, scale and reliability, as revealed in two recent patent filings aimed at solving each problem