CATL Chairman Says "Mass Adoption of Solid-State Batteries Possible Only After 2030"

*This content was translated by AI.

Robin Zeng, chairman of China's CATL, the world's largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer, has put the brakes on the possibility of early mass adoption of solid-state batteries. In a recent interviewwith local media, Zeng stated that the benchmark for large-scale commercialization of solid-state batteries is a production volume of 1 million vehicles, and that such "industrial Yangsan" will not be possible before 2030.

Due to technical limitations and high manufacturing costs, it is diagnosed that initial solid-state batteries will be limited to high-end premium vehicles priced at 250,000 yuan (approximately 47 million won in Hanwha currency) or more. Zeng's remarks have attracted significant attention, as the head of the world's largest battery manufacturer has presented a bleak outlook on solid-state batteries, which have long been hailed as the "battery of dreams."

In fact, the technical maturity level (TRL) of solid-state batteries remains at stage 4 out of 9 total stages, which is the laboratory verification and prototype production phase. The core obstacle to Yangsan is the "solid-solid interface" resistance between the solid electrolyte and the electrodes. Although a warm isostatic pressing process reaching 6,000 atmospheres is used to combine components, structural mismatches occur due to differences in compression density between materials. This is identified as a factor that increases internal resistance within the battery and accelerates cell degradation, making mass production application difficult.

Accordingly, the electric vehicle battery market is expected to maintain its current structure centered on the liquid electrolyte platform for the foreseeable future. According to data from China's Ministry of Commerce, as of May 2026, CATL's battery capacity reached 33.08GWh, showing a gradual growth trend. Among these, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries accounted for 23.12GWh, leading the market, while ternary lithium batteries reached only 9.96GWh.

While battery manufacturers are concentrating investments on sulfide-based solid-state battery research, some vehicle manufacturers are adopting composite architecture batteries as a short-term alternative. China's state-owned Dongfeng Motor is pushing for the Yangsan of oxide-polymer battery packs, targeting a launch in the second half of 2026. The battery achieves an energy density of 350Wh/kg, enabling over 1,000km of driving on a single charge, and has demonstrated performance that retains 74% of its capacity even in extreme environments as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius. Drone taxi company EHang is also expanding its utility in specialized fields, such as completing cross-strait flight tests equipped with Shenzhen Neos's 480Wh/kg lithium metal solid-state batteries.

As a result, CATL is expected to continue long-term investments totaling 10 billion yuan (approximately 1.9 trillion won in Hanwha currency) to secure foundational technologies for sulfide-based solid-state batteries, while maintaining liquid electrolyte batteries as its core business until solid-state batteries secure cost competitiveness against existing batteries.

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*This content was translated by AI.