Honda’s Solid-State Battery Pilot Starts - InsightEV

Honda’s Solid-State Battery Pilot Starts

In August 2022, Honda announced it would set up a solid-state battery pilot line in Japan. The aim was to study solid-state batteries and ensure the brand was ready with the technology and production in time for the competition. The pilot line has now started production.

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Published : November 25, 2024
233 words

Table of Content

The pilot line has been set up with an investment of USD 310m. It’s a pilot; the batteries are not headed for production cars or scooters. Even when it goes beyond a pilot, we expect most production to go to Honda cars.

However, solid-state batteries should also be suitable for performance motorcycles and scooters. Honda displayed two concepts at EICMA this year.

Honda E-Fun and E-Urban are unlikely to get solid-state batteries as their development programs are in advanced stages.

We have always been skeptical about the technology suitability of electric powertrains for performance motorcycles. These motorcycles suffer from high weight due to heavy batteries. If the batteries are made smaller, the motorcycles will no longer deliver the range that the customers in the performance segment are used to.

If we change a conventional NMC 15kWh pack to solid state, we estimate a 30-percent weight savings at the pack level. This translates into about 20kg less weight. For a performance motorcycle, 20 kg is all the difference between success and failure.

Impact

Honda has just started the pilot, and the company has given no indication that solid-state batteries are headed for its upcoming performance motorcycles. At the same time, the Japanese manufacturer is known for doing things comprehensively. With its 2025 and 2030 plans to go all out in electric, there is scope for some of the large-format performance models to use solid-state batteries.


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