New Chinese EVs feature ASSB tech

By the end of 2023 there will be 10 Chinese electric passenger vehicles using advanced semi-solid-state batteries (ASSB) - an industry-first application for EVs and a milestone for vehicle electrification, according to Paul Haelterman, North American VP at Autodatas, a vehicle benchmarking and research firm. It's “a huge step for the industry's production pursuit of all-solid-state batteries,” Haelterman told SAE Media ahead of his presentation on China's EV market at SAE's WCX 2023 conference in Detroit.

A semi-solid-state battery can be one in which one electrode does not contain a liquid electrolyte and the other electrode does. Or it can be a battery in which the mass or volume of the solid electrolyte in the monomer accounts for half of the total mass or volume of the electrolyte in the monomer. Some battery experts view semi-solid-state as a compromise technology, offering a faster route to scale, but is heavy and requires more volume.