Solid state batteries have entered trailblazer mode. Pretty much every big automaker and battery plant is working on making a commercially-available product—a race to achieving that sweet, sweet equilibrium between cost, scalability, and viability that lets a piece of conceptual tech make its way into the car parked in your driveway. But while some automakers have begun to test the tech in cars, others, like Kia, warn that the real deal is still years away.
Welcome back to Critical Materials, your daily roundup for all things electric and automotive tech. Here’s what’s on the docket today: Hyundai and Kia say solid state batteries are a pipe dream until the top of the decade, Nissan’s CEO could soon be forced out, and Stellantis tells Trump he’s slapping tariffs on the wrong cars. Let’s jump in.
30%: Hyundai Says Solid State Batteries Are Coming… Eventually
Photo by: Kia
Solid state batteries have long been hyped up as the next big thing in EVs for some time now. And why wouldn’t they? The tech promises longer ranges, faster recharging, and the potential for more power output with far less overall degradation than today’s battery tech. But the needle is always moving in pursuit of solid state batteries—and now Kia warns that the solid state batteries aren’t as easy to make (or as close to production) as some think.
At Kia’s 2025 EV day, Hyundai took some time to quash industry hype and set expectations around just what’s going on in the battery world. Specifically, Spencer Cho, Hyundai Motor Group’s Global Product Planning Chief, warned that commercialization of the solid state batteries that the company plans to use in its Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis-branded EVs doesn’t look achievable until at least 2030.
“I don’t think we can commercialize these batteries before 2030,” said Cho during the event, according to Automotive News. “Once our engineers believe that we have credible technologies that we can bring, then we might produce them on our own.”
The exact timeline wasn’t spelled out by Cho, which speaks to the uncertainty that he’s trying to paint. Specifically, the Hyundai executive warns that the industry is underestimating the sheer complexity of these batteries. From the actual progress that has been made so far in the tech to manufacturing at-scale—these are still problems that need to be worked out industry-wide.
Japan’s automakers aren’t so sure that Hyundai’s timeline makes sense. Instead, many automakers are pushing forward with the hopes that their aggressive timelines will play off by making them one of the firsts to market. Among them:
- Toyota says that its first solid-state EVs will be ready by 2027 or 2028 (though it does chart 2030 as its timeline for mass production).
- Honda is testing out its “game-changer” solid state packs that promise up to 620 miles of range
- Nissan—should it last that long—believes that it will have a solid state battery with twice the capacity of lithium ion on the road by 2028
If any of Japan’s automakers succeed in their bullish timeline, they could gain a huge competitive advantage over other automakers. The bump in the road is that battery breakthroughs are notoriously difficult and Hyundai’s cautious approach could pay off if early adopters struggle with production or reliability.
Let’s be clear: Hyundai isn’t sitting still and letting the rest of the industry pass it by. The automaker is still working on the tech behind the scenes while simultaneously working to improve existing battery chemistries, whether that be Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries in more affordable vehicles or Nickle Manganese Cobalt (NMC) cells in cars that need more performance.
That being said, if you’ve been holding out on a new EV because you’re worried about solid state batteries popping up in every new car over the next few years, it’s probably a decent bet that a purchase made will be a safe one—as long as you trust Cho’s industry insight, that is.
60%: Nissan Is A Mess And Its CEO Could Be The First To Go
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida with the Chill-Out concept
If Nissan were a person right about now, they’d be that guy named Lou trying to pawn off his watch and car keys while sitting at a blackjack table. The automaker is in deep—not only has its only lifeline, Honda, withdrawn from the table, but its only suitor appears to be Foxconn, which would put Nissan in the hands of a foreign-vested powerhouse.
Needless to say, this has put Nissan’s actual leadership in a bit of a panic. Directly in the doghouse is the company’s CEO, Makoto Uchida, and his future at the automaker is looking bleak at best. Recent reports indicate that Nissan’s board has begun to prepare for Uchida’s replacement, citing the recent financial nosedive coupled with the hubris-filled $60 billion partnership collapse.
Bloomberg has the scoop:
Nissan directors are gauging interest in potential candidates to succeed Makoto Uchida, the 22-year company veteran who’s been CEO since late 2019, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Nissan declined to comment.
Uchida, 58, told reporters earlier this month that while he was prepared to relinquish his position if asked, he didn’t want to step down before steadying Nissan’s business. He braced investors for an ¥80 billion ($536 million) net loss for the fiscal year ending in March, a far cry from the ¥380 billion net profit he was forecasting just nine months ago.
If a dishonorably departed CEO wasn’t enough to stir the pot, know that just prior to the rumors of Uchida’s possible separation, all three major credit raters downgraded Nissan to “junk” status. Their reasoning? To put it simply: sales are weak, earnings are down, and Nissan has “uncertain prospects for recovery.”
Will Uchida’s departure solve that? Not alone. The automaker might want to put another pilot in the cockpit to stop the spiral, but it doesn’t mean that they can land the plane without some additional help. That might be through a merger, or perhaps through a strategic brand rework. But both of those things require something Nissan doesn’t have the luxury of—time.
Now, here’s the thing: the merger between Nissan and Honda? It could still happen. That’s contingent, however, on Uchida being ousted from the automaker—something previously unfathomable as part of the merger.
90%: Stellantis Tells Trump To Target Someone Else
Photo by: InsideEVs
Stellantis chairman John Elkann has a message for U.S. President Donald Trump: if you’re going to impose 25% tariffs on cars, at least target the right ones.
In a recent earnings call with investors, Elkann warned that the federal government is taking aim at the wrong automotive players. Rather than blanket tariff North American trading partners, Elkann says that Trump’s team should be instead looking into the four million vehicles imported into the U.S. every year without a single U.S.-sourced part on board.
That, according to the chairman, is “the real opportunity” to close a “loophole” in the system. Vehicles that are part of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) must already comply with parts content requirements—something that Trump’s administration previously negotiated during his first term in the Oval Office.
Elkann’s cries might be falling on deaf ears, though. Trump has already pledged tariffs on foreign steel and vehicle imports, the latter of which is something that automakers are scrambling to plan for like they’re going through a revolving door.
Ford CEO Jim Farley previously warned that these tariffs could “blow a hole” in the U.S. auto industry and hand European and Asian brands a huge competitive advantage. And let’s not forget the very likely possibility of auto executives and lobbyists working behind the curtain to convince the current administration to budge. So far, their pleas have gone unanswered.
If Trump follows through as promised, automakers like Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—the Detroit “Big Three”—are looking at billions of dollars in increased costs. Those costs aren’t just going to disappear, either. They’re going to get passed down to buyers, forcing up car prices and potentially beginning an uptick in inflation all over again.
Automakers are sounding the alarm already: car prices will go up. That means sales could take a hit and auto manufacturing jobs up and down the supply chain may be at risk. And all because the wrong cars are being targeted.
100%: Will You Wait For Solid State Batteries?
With all of this hype around solid state batteries, consumers are rightfully pumped about the future of EVs. Faster charging, more performance, better range. What’s not to like?
The reality is that these batteries seem to be years away from production. And to top it all off, despite promises of cheaper batteries in the long-run, automakers aren’t even really sure how affordable these will be at the start of production (meaning that even the earliest solid state batteries could be reserved for higher nameplates or trims).
So here’s where I ask you the important question: Are you holding your breath for solid state batteries? Will it be the reason you upgrade your car or make an EV purchase in the future over what’s available on the market today? Let me know your thoughts on the emerging tech in the comments.
