TOKYO -- The race for the fledgling electric vehicle market is set to intensify after Toyota Motor promised the release of the next generation of battery technology, which it said could offer big improvements in driving range and safety. Toyota said at the Tokyo Motor Show on Wednesday that it was working toward commercializing its solid-state battery technology "sometime in the early 2020s."
Solid-state batteries are seen as a successor to the lithium-ion battery technology which is widely used in EVs and smartphones. Solid-state batteries are seen as having much greater energy density, allowing cars to go further, charge faster, and carry less risk of fire.
