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Solid-state batteries

Are we there yet? Read the rest of the package. The rise of the lithium-ion battery, which powers everything from the smallest personal electronics to gargantuan energy storage systems, has been nothing short of revolutionary. But as anyone who’s boarded a plane in the last decade could tell you, storing and pumping out energy by moving charged lithium ions through a liquid electrolyte soup has its drawbacks, not least that the batteries have a troubling tendency to catch fire.

我们到了吗？阅读本专题的其余部分。锂离子电池的兴起彻底改变了世界，它为从最小的个人电子设备到巨大的储能系统的所有设备提供动力。但正如过去十年中任何乘坐过飞机的人所知，通过液体电解质溶液移动带电锂离子来存储和输出能量存在缺陷，其中最令人不安的是电池容易起火。

Enter the solid-state battery, which swaps liquid for a solid ceramic or polymer, creating power packs that charge faster, last longer, cram more energy into smaller spaces, and (crucially) run cooler. A new generation of companies aim to bring such batteries to market, and if their bets pan out, the tech could substantially ease the shift away from fossil fuels.

固态电池应运而生，它用固体陶瓷或聚合物取代了液体，制造出的电池组充电更快、寿命更长、在更小的空间内能容纳更多能量，而且（至关重要的是）运行温度更低。新一代公司旨在将此类电池推向市场，如果他们的押注成功，这项技术将能大幅推动摆脱化石燃料的进程。

The sticking points. Solid-state batteries have been “just a few years away” for more than a decade now. In laboratories, the technology works. But there have been challenges. In designs that pair the solid electrolyte with a lithium-metal anode (the side of the battery that releases electrons into an electrical circuit), needlelike filaments called dendrites tend to grow during charging, and they eventually push through the electrolyte and short the cell.

症结所在。十多年来，固态电池一直处于“还差几年”的状态。在实验室里，这项技术是可行的，但挑战依然存在。在将固体电解质与锂金属负极（电池中向电路释放电子的一侧）配对的设计中，充电过程中往往会生长出被称为“枝晶”的针状细丝，它们最终会刺穿电解质并导致电池短路。

Solid electrolytes are supposed to physically block the formation of dendrites, but many of them crack as the treelike projections break through like roots in a concrete foundation. Then there’s the problem of manufacturing at scale. Mass production requires large quantities of defect-free sheets of ceramic-like material to make the electrolytes as well as dry rooms for assembly, since those electrolytes have a tendency to react with water.

固体电解质本应在物理上阻挡枝晶的形成，但许多电解质在树状突起像混凝土基础中的树根一样穿透时会发生破裂。此外，还有大规模制造的问题。大规模生产需要大量无缺陷的类陶瓷片材来制造电解质，还需要用于组装的干燥室，因为这些电解质容易与水发生反应。

Would-be manufacturers quote a range of potential prices for solid-state batteries, but most expect them to fall in line with lithium-ion packs sometime in the mid-2030s.

潜在的制造商对固态电池给出了不同的预期价格，但大多数人预计到 2030 年代中期，其价格将与锂离子电池组持平。

The progress. Nascent as the technology is, solid-state batteries have already seen high-profile missteps. But one of America’s most advanced solid-state-battery companies says it’s closing in on being able to bring its product to market. The Bill Gates–backed QuantumScape launched in Silicon Valley in 2010 and built its battery around a class of ceramic materials that it says is compatible with lithium—meaning no dendrite formation.

进展。尽管这项技术尚处于萌芽阶段，但固态电池已经经历了一些备受瞩目的挫折。不过，美国最先进的固态电池公司之一表示，它已接近将其产品推向市场。由比尔·盖茨支持的 QuantumScape 于 2010 年在硅谷成立，其电池围绕一类陶瓷材料构建，该公司称这种材料与锂兼容，这意味着不会形成枝晶。

“We spent, then, like 10 years learning how to process it to satisfy all of the other requirements,” says Tim Holme, QuantumScape’s cofounder and chief technology officer. In 2025, the startup announced a proprietary, large-scale manufacturing method for quickly producing and heat-treating the ceramic electrolytes used in its batteries. “Nobody has ever done this in the field of ceramics before,” Holme claims.

QuantumScape 的联合创始人兼首席技术官蒂姆·霍尔姆（Tim Holme）表示：“我们花了大约 10 年时间学习如何加工它，以满足所有其他要求。” 2025 年，这家初创公司宣布了一种专有的、大规模制造方法，用于快速生产和热处理其电池中使用的陶瓷电解质。霍尔姆声称：“在陶瓷领域，以前从未有人这样做过。”

For 10,000 years, producing ceramics has involved slowly cooking the starting materials in an oven over the course of days. “We figured out a way to shorten that down to several minutes,” he says. Plenty of other companies are pushing the tech forward as well. Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, launched a research program on solid-state batteries way back in 2010.

一万年来，陶瓷的生产过程一直涉及在烤箱中对原材料进行数天的缓慢烧制。他说：“我们找到了一种方法，将其缩短到几分钟。” 许多其他公司也在推动这项技术的发展。全球最大的汽车制造商丰田早在 2010 年就启动了固态电池研究项目。

It’s now partnering with the global energy and petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan on a pilot plant, promising cars that can travel up to 745 miles after charging 10 minutes or less—a huge leap, if it works out. In China, CATL, the giant behind roughly 40% of the global battery market, is aggressively pursuing solid-state batteries too, pumping nearly $2.6 billion into a research program in 2024 alone.

目前，丰田正与全球能源和石油公司出光兴产（Idemitsu Kosan）合作建设一家试点工厂，承诺汽车在充电 10 分钟或更短时间内即可行驶 745 英里——如果成功，这将是一个巨大的飞跃。在中国，占据全球电池市场约 40% 份额的巨头宁德时代（CATL）也在积极研发固态电池，仅 2024 年就向一个研究项目投入了近 26 亿美元。

Mercedes, meanwhile, equipped one of its EQS sedans with solid-state batteries last fall; after driving nonstop for 750 miles, the car still had some range to spare.

与此同时，梅赛德斯去年秋天为其一款 EQS 轿车配备了固态电池；在不停歇行驶 750 英里后，该车仍有剩余续航里程。

Will the tech gain traction? Investing in vehicle batteries makes sense given the size of the potential market. But any little uptick in cost typically gets passed on to buyers, so the first solid-state EV batteries will inevitably be more expensive. Grid storage buyers, who are working to meet the increasing demands posed by data centers, may also hesitate to purchase new technologies that still haven’t come down the cost curve.

这项技术会流行起来吗？考虑到潜在市场的规模，投资车载电池是有意义的。但成本的任何微小上涨通常都会转嫁给买家，因此首批固态电动汽车电池不可避免地会更昂贵。电网储能买家正在努力满足数据中心日益增长的需求，他们也可能对购买尚未降低成本曲线的新技术持观望态度。

Then again, the promise of energy storage that lasts longer than lithium-ion’s typical eight hours could make them easier to persuade. Some companies are taking a page from a playbook employed by outfits pursuing fusion: Focus on near-term markets with better margins to help fund development and bring down costs.

话又说回来，如果储能时长能超过锂离子电池典型的八小时，那么这些买家可能更容易被说服。一些公司正在借鉴核聚变企业的策略：专注于利润率更高的近期市场，以帮助资助研发并降低成本。

Solid-state firms including California-based Solid Energies and Arizona-headquartered Sion Power are looking at selling batteries to the aviation industry or the military. “Those are sectors that are less sensitive to cost, and they typically require lower volumes as well,” says Evelina Stoikou, head analyst for battery technologies and supply chains at the consultancy BloombergNEF. “It’s a good way to prove your concept, then go through and fund the pilot plant where you can make that and eventually scale up.”

包括总部位于加州的 Solid Energies 和总部位于亚利桑那州的 Sion Power 在内的固态电池公司正考虑向航空业或军方销售电池。彭博新能源财经（BloombergNEF）电池技术与供应链首席分析师埃维琳娜·斯托伊库（Evelina Stoikou）表示：“这些行业对成本不太敏感，而且通常需求量也较小。这是验证概念的好方法，然后通过融资建设试点工厂，实现生产并最终扩大规模。”

Progress meter … 7. The technology works, the capital is there, and demand is not far behind. But as with anything in manufacturing, unknown unknowns remain.

进度表 … 7。技术可行，资金到位，需求也不远了。但正如制造业中的任何事物一样，未知的未知因素依然存在。