If it were any other company I would be thrilled. With Samsung, this is going to be internet enabled, you’ll need an app to turn your car on and off, and it’ll probably play ads at high volumes constantly while driving.
Are solid state batteries having issues with catching fire? I thought that was liquid batteries? Or is this just like saying everything bad that ever happened with lithium ion batteries will happen with everything else?
Samsung devices & appliances are notoriously prone to catastrophic failure - as a matter of fact, I actually had a Samsung TV melt itself - which turns out is a common issue (Google “Samsung tv melting corner”).
Then there’s the Samsung battery fire issues, Samsung refrigerator safety lawsuits, etc.
I’d love to imagine around 20 years later people would be retrofitting old and heavy phone, laptop, and EV batteries with lighter and faster-charging ones…
it’s still a Li-ion (like most current rechargeables) but the electrolyte - the medium that transfers the ions from the anode to the cathode - (the + and -) inside the battery is made of a solid material instead of the current gen liquid ones. The benefits are less weight/size (as liquids take up more space than solids) and a more stable composition - the liquid electrolyte can’t leak - the way batteries get gunky and corroded if left for a while
For a smaller EV It would take around 200kWh worth of battery for a 600 mile range. The current Tesla “superchargers” put out 250kWh. So whatever is going to charge this battery will have to output roughly an order of magnitude more power in order to charge the battery in 6 minutes. That’s an impressive and scary amount of energy transfer.
Edit: I don’t know where I got 6 minutes from. So not quite 10X the power for charging, but a LOT more than current chargers.
A couple things: solid state batteries weigh much less. Solid state batteries are 30-50% lighter per kWh. The initial ones will probably be closer to 30% lighter. A 100 kWh battery weighs about 1400 lbs (635 kg). Shaving off 400 lbs is pretty significant and results in much better range for the same battery capacity. The battery pack is likely closer to 150 kWh.
Second thing would be the charge rate. Yes, a supercharger can 250 kW output (not kWh BTW) but a few factors means that they often do not. First thing would be heat. If the charging cable or the battery gets too hot, the the rate slows down. The next thing would be the fact that current batteries have to start at a slow rate and end at a slow rate. Solid state batteries do not have those issue nearly as much and can more consistently hit that 250 kW output for a longer period of time.
This thing, they are likely using 350+ kW chargers. Higher than 350 kW is pretty rare but the odd 400 kW and 450 kW charger does exist.
And doing some more digging, I found that it is from 8% to 80% in 9 minutes. And even then, it does not say it is the same 150 kWh battery that is being charged that fast. This could be marketing crap where it is giving numbers for a ~85 kWh battery to compare it to EVs today. An Ioniq 5 takes about twice as long to go from 10-80% at 350 kW.
Yes, Teslas can charge at 250 kW, but they do not sustain that charging rate for long. As the battery charges, its charging rate drops. If newer battery technologies can sustain the higher charge rates longer, they could theoretically store more charge in less time.
Also, Teslas are approaching 10 years old and as far as I know their batteries are still going strong (yes, I know their quality control is otherwise sketchy). The Nissan Leaf batteries are getting pretty sketchy, but they don’t have any battery conditioning - just air-cooled. That’s not doing longevity any favors. All other major EVs have battery management systems and seem to be holding up ok. They’re also generally warranted for 8 years. I don’t think they’d only have a 2-year buffer between warranty and expected life.
I have never had an issue with either of those things. On road trips, there are plenty of fast ev chargers these days. And my EV already goes 320mi on a full charge. You don’t want to sit at max charge for long anyway. I only charge to 50% and haven’t had much range anxiety. Realistically it’s better than gas, because at home it charges overnight (even to 100%).
Charging on road trips at a fast charger takes as long as a quick trip to the bathroom and grabbing a bite to eat.
Sounds nice. In much of the US it’s not at all that easy to find fast chargers and longer lasting and quicker charging batteries would significantly help EV adoption here.
Out of curiosity, have you tried? Genuinely asking. Because I thought the same before I caved and bought mine. I’ve now gone on multi-thousand mile road trips with no issues. But I acknowledge there are places that need more chargers.
Have electric hybrid which obviously isn’t the same thing, but was considering going full EV. With the hybrid I am always on the lookout for places to charge to avoid gas and keep preconditioning option going. Often difficult to find a charging station never mind fast charging. I’ve paid attention to the 200mile mark to imagine what it would look like if I didn’t have the gas backup and it’s not pretty. Sure you could do it with some patience and careful planning, but in my country unless you are staying near a coast, EV really becomes less practical for long distance traveling.
It really depends on where you live. There are some parts of the world where environmental factors like ocean humidity or winter road salting will cause a car’s frame to rust through in a few years if you’re not careful. Look up the Rust Belt for an example.
On the other hand, if you live somewhere warm and dry, your car’s frame and body will outlast its original mechanical components.
“Rust Belt” isn’t literal, it refers to an area of the US where industrial manufacturing declined significant in the second half of the 20th century. It’s called that in part at least because its previous moniker was “Steel Belt”.
Eh, it’s really not that dumb assuming there’s an average electric discharge for electric vehicles. Most laypeople don’t understand kWh beyond “bigger number better”.
How about the 2024 Ford Escape PHEV. 37 mile range on electric, which will cover most of dialy driving, and then it switches to gas. Should work out that you can pay 1/3 cost for fuel most percent of your driving, and not have to worry about long range trips. Base price is like 41k, meaning a used vehicle would drop quick.
Edit: apparently the 2025 now starts at 38k. So price came down didn’t find range.
I have an older fusion energi and don’t plug it in because charging every day is a hassle.
I’m not anti-anything though. Clean energy is good, efficiency is good, the luggage space wasted isn’t awesome but whatever. I’m just explaining why I care about range. That’s not a long weekend camping trip and the infrastructure for pure battery in the places I like to be don’t make low range viable.
I really don’t get why PHEV never ramped up to be the next thing instead of all this push to go full electric when the tech and infrastructure isn’t good enough yet.
You joke but I literally pictured a super long battery for a solid bit before it clicked. I was thinking maybe it was coiled and technically really long like a spool of wire
Finally. A true alternative to gasoline vehicles has begun to arrive. I’d never buy a current gen or older pure EV because I’d never want to spend $10,000+ on a battery replacement after its 10 years old or have something with a 250 mile range that takes 45 minutes to charge most of the way up. Give the world a 350 mile (real world usage) battery that can charge in under 15 minutes and lasts 20 years, that’s total replacement territory.
Apparently, they are also rather expensive to produce, since it warns that they will first go into the “super premium” EV segment of luxury electric cars that can cover more than 600 miles on a charge.