Nissan has revealed bold ambitions to launch a production electric vehicle equipped with a solid-state battery in 2028, replacing the more common lithium-ion batteries used in EVs like the Nissan Ariya today. Solid-state batteries have been touted as solving two major pain points for many EV drivers by offering faster charging times and a longer range.

Nissan has been investing in solid-state batteries for some time and is working on overcoming the long production time and safety risks associated with a battery that is highly energy-dense. As per Autocar, Nissan believes it is in a "class-leading position" with the battery tech and wants to have a pilot solid-state battery production plant operational by 2025. By 2026, it aims to have finished engineering on the initial tech before a completed EV arrives in 2028.

Last year, Nissan admitted that the time it took to produce solid-state batteries at its facility was still very long, but it hasn't come close to throwing in the towel. Larger square cells have replaced the smaller button cells in Japan at the existing development stage, with the final cells being the size of a laptop. The Japanese manufacturer is working with scientists at the University of Oxford in an effort to end up with an "all-solid-state" battery with no liquid elements.

"We think we have something quite special and are in a group leading the technology," said David Moss, Nissan's senior vice president for research and development in Europe. "We want to get the cost down by 50% [relative to lithium-ion batteries], to double the density and to offer three times the charging speed.

Moss hinted at charging speeds of around 400 kW; this isn't triple what today's fastest-charging EVs can achieve (350 kW in the case of the Hyundai Ioniq 5), but the difference with solid-state batteries is that they can deliver these fast speeds consistently without being as heavily affected by the temperature. Battery size, however, has not been determined just yet.

"If you can put in energy three times faster, is it any different to filling a [petrol] vehicle?" said Moss. "We don't know yet [about battery size], but we might have two sizes of battery - one for really heavy users who need massive range, but if you can put energy in like petrol, do you need size?"

One very positive statement made by Moss is that solid-state battery tech "opens up electric mobility to sectors that you can't today," such as the biggest trucks and SUVs. Does this mean that the first Nissan with this battery could be a pickup, perhaps based on the Nissan Surf-Out concept? It's possible, but a compact crossover like the Ariya seems likelier.

Despite the progress being made in this area, Nissan acknowledges that lithium-ion batteries will continue to be a focus area, with at least two more generations of this battery type. "Lithium-ion is constantly changing, with better energy density, [better] efficiency, and lower cost," said Moss. "The cost is key, as this opens up EVs to even more customers. We believe there are a couple of steps left in lithium-ion. A big drive for us is to go cobalt-free. We expect this to be on the market in 2028."

Nissan's 2028 goal for a solid-state-equipped EV doesn't necessarily mean it will be the first to market with this tech, though, as others have also invested heavily in its development. BMW claimed it will have solid-state batteries ready later in 2023, although it will only find its way into a production car by 2030. Toyota also has big plans for solid-state batteries, with more patents for the tech than other automakers.

Still, Nissan's plans are coming along nicely, and it could get a head start on the competition just as it did with the Leaf, which was the best-selling EV worldwide for several years until the Tesla Model 3 surpassed it.