>>720464279
>need a breakthrough new battery technology

Enthusiast here. Solid-state batteries are supposed to be the miracle cure. Compared to lithium ion batteries, solid-state
>can store twice as much energy in the same weight
>can charge almost instantly
>CAN'T randomly catch on fire
It'd solve so many problems at once. The weight difference would make electric planes viable. The cynic in me says they won't make phones and laptops that last twice as long and instead will make ones that are half as thin.

The problem is that solid-state batteries have been five years in the future, for like twenty years now. I'm looking at an old press release from Toyota flexing that they'd have their solid-state EVs on the market by 2022.

The chinks have something called "semi-solid-state" that's gotta be an outright scam, just lithium ion with a Blast Processing Power of Cell sticker slapped on it.
As far as shit I view more credibly, Mercedes is flexing this week that they just drove a prototype solid-state EV 750 miles, at highway speed, on one charge. I believe the press about it and I also notice what they're not saying - I worry that they achieved this feat with a $2 million battery pack and it was ruined by the end of the journey.

Solid-state batteries do exist in one place, right now, in the real world. Pacemakers. It turns out nobody really cares that the button-sized battery costs $2,000 when it's a component of a $50,000 device being implanted in a $300,000 surgery. I get it.