In time, the lithium-ion liquid battery in electric cars may possibly be replaced by the safer solid-state variant which is much more powerful and far quicker to charge. IMEC is working on this at its research centre in Genk
SOLIDIFY is the name of the innovative project. There are many benefits to this development. A solid-state battery provides more electrical energy than the traditional liquid battery, and thus the driving range of the car increases. This capacity or energy density is expressed in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Per litre of volume, IMEC's prototype sits at over 1 kWh while the lithium-ion battery barely gets to 0.6 to 0.7 kWh. In other words, cars of the future, with the new generation of batteries, would be able to drive around 50% further than with the current batteries of the same size. Also, the current conductor in the battery is solid, which makes it much less flammable and therefore safer. Even if it is pierced. A disadvantage, however, is the shorter lifespan of solid-state batteries.
Excessively high expectations, however, should be tempered for the moment. There is still a long way to go from laboratory to production. We do have the necessary knowledge in Europe about materials and battery chemistry but to be strategically autonomous in the energy sector and produce on a large scale requires the expansion of the corresponding industry. In any case, with the SOLIDIFY project, IMEC is doing more than its fair share to achieve this.
