BYD expects to put solid-state battery technology into a vehicle in 2027, although large-scale deployment of the potentially important new battery type is still several years away.
Executive vice-president Stella Li said in an interview with Carwow Spain that BYD was in a leading position in solid-state battery development and that “next year” it would have its first model using the technology. She did not identify the vehicle.
The comment puts a more specific vehicle milestone on a development schedule BYD disclosed last year.
At the China All-Solid-State Battery Innovation and Development Summit Forum in February 2025, BYD battery business chief technology officer Sun Huajun said the company expected to begin demonstration use of all-solid-state batteries around 2027. Large-scale adoption would come around 2030 or later.
Sun also said BYD had produced 60Ah all-solid-state cells on a pilot production line in 2024. The company has been studying sulphide-based solid electrolytes as well as the materials, cell systems and manufacturing processes needed to industrialise the technology.
The 2027-2029 period had previously been described as a demonstration phase, initially aimed at mid- to high-end vehicles. Li’s latest comment therefore fits BYD’s existing timetable rather than signalling that solid-state batteries are ready for high-volume cars.
All-solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte found in conventional lithium-ion cells with a solid electrolyte. They could offer higher energy density, faster charging and improved safety, but converting laboratory and pilot-line cells into durable and affordable automotive batteries remains difficult.
The International Energy Agency said in its Global EV Outlook 2026 that all-solid-state cells are already being made in small quantities for testing. Manufacturing remains more complicated and expensive than conventional lithium-ion production, while integrating the cells into vehicle battery packs brings additional mechanical demands.
Maintaining reliable contact between solid layers is one problem. Cells can require substantial pressure during operation, while poor interfaces, material degradation and lithium dendrite growth can hurt durability and potentially cause failures. Recent research continues to identify solid-solid interfaces and pressure requirements as major hurdles.
The IEA specifically lists BYD as planning its first electric vehicle using an all-solid-state battery from 2027, followed by mass production from 2030. It expects early solid-state batteries to remain largely confined to premium vehicles into the first half of the 2030s.
BYD is not alone in aiming for the latter part of this decade. Toyota is targeting 2027-2028 for commercialisation and is working with Idemitsu on sulphide solid electrolytes. Nissan aims to introduce EVs using all-solid-state batteries in fiscal 2028, while Samsung SDI says it plans to start mass production in 2027.
Even those dates do not imply immediate mass-market adoption. Toyota, for example, is still developing production methods and working with suppliers on materials that can withstand repeated charging and discharging.
BYD chief scientist Lian Yubo also warned earlier this year that moving from pilot production to large-scale vehicle deployment still faced problems involving engineering complexity, costs and production yields.
If Li’s timetable holds, 2027 will be an important test of whether BYD can move its solid-state technology from pilot cells into customer vehicles — but it will be the start of deployment, rather than the end of today’s lithium-ion batteries.
