With regards to EVs, the mainstream press shows a curious mixture of skepticism and credulousness (disasters and miracles generate clicks, however gradual, regular progress doesn’t).

A current announcement from Toyota regarding solid-state batteries received the world’s media all excited a couple of massive enhance for battery-electric automobiles. (A seek for “EV Holy Grail” will flip up a lot of the related articles.)

“Toyota says solid-state battery breakthrough can halve value and dimension,” fulminated The Monetary Occasions. (A few days later, the FT walked again on Toyota’s “hope and hype,” having realized that the corporate has seen its timetables “pushed again many times.”)

“Toyota says it has made a technological breakthrough that may enable it to halve the burden, dimension and price of batteries,” gushed The Guardian. (A couple of weeks in the past, the paper was pressured to revise an anti-EV screed after it turned out to be riddled with deceptive statements and falsehoods.)

Sure, solid-state batteries (SSBs) symbolize a significant advance over present Li-ion know-how—they’re anticipated to be safer and extra energy-dense, and to supply quicker charging. And sure, Toyota has been engaged on SSBs for a very long time. The much-heralded breakthrough seems to be a brand new strategy to simplify the manufacturing of SSBs. Toyota now expects to have the ability to manufacture an SSB to be used in EVs as quickly as 2027.

Nonetheless, these of us who’ve been following the EV subject for years know that Toyota has been touting breakthroughs in SSBs for years. (We additionally know that Toyota is a laggard within the electrification race, and that it continues to unfold misinformation and to actively foyer in opposition to e-mobility.)

EV journalist John Voelcker’s tackle the most recent massive information: “I’ve press clippings of Toyota guarantees on solid-state battery know-how that now date again seven years. In 2017, Toyota mentioned it may very well be producing automobiles with solid-state battery packs by 2020. We are actually in 2023, and it’s now providing the identical 3- to 5-year timetable. Ahem.”

In 2020, Toyota predicted that its “game-changing solid-state battery” would debut in 2021.

In June of this yr, Toyota mentioned it was accelerating its growth of solid-state batteries, and touted plans for a 1,000-mile EV (it additionally closely hyped hybrids and hydrogen).

So, the most recent announcement seems to be much less like a seize on the Grail, and extra like a reiteration of what Toyota’s been saying for years. Moreover, Toyota is removed from the one agency engaged on SSBs—in truth, it seems that others have overwhelmed it to market. Chinese language automaker Nio simply introduced plans to make use of SSBs in a manufacturing automobile.

Toyota’s noise about SSBs strikes me as a typical brownie tactic. Right here’s what Keiji Kaita, President of Toyota’s R&D Middle for Carbon Neutrality, mentioned in regards to the current so-called breakthrough: “For each our liquid and our solid-state batteries, we’re aiming to drastically change the scenario the place present batteries are too massive, heavy and costly.”

In different phrases: “Present EVs stink, so don’t purchase one—wait till we’ve perfected this future miracle know-how, which is (and can stay) solely 4 years away.”

To stay related, Toyota might want to do greater than catch up within the solid-state battery subject. It’s going to want a drastic change in its international technique—and lengthy earlier than 2027.

Sources: The Guardian, The Monetary Occasions, Nikkei Asia