Solid-state batteries promise to prove safer and longer lasting than conventional batteries. Now companies suggest they may commercialize solid-state batteries in the next five years for use in electric “hypercars” and power grids.

Conventional batteries supply electricity via chemical reactions between two electrodes, the anode and cathode, which typically interact through liquid or gel electrolytes. Solid-state batteries instead employ solid electrolytes such as ceramics. Solid-state batteries can provide more energy than conventional batteries for the same amount of weight or space.

“Solid-state batteries will be of huge benefit for electric vehicles, where the range is quite a key parameter,” says Noshin Omar, CEO and founder of Avesta Battery and Energy Engineering (ABEE) in Brussels. “Solid-state batteries are also much safer than conventional lithium-ion batteries, which use organic liquid electrolytes that are flammable and volatile.”

Now ABEE is helping develop a street-legal electric “hypercar,” the Fulminea, which is set to go to market in the second half of 2023. It will feature a hybrid battery pack that combines ABEE’s solid-state cells with ultra-capacitors.

“Currently our solid-state batteries have an energy density of about 400 watt-hours per kilogram, which is about double the typical energy density of commercial lithium-ion batteries on the market,” Omar says. “By 2025, we aim to achieve an energy density of 450 watt-hours per kilogram.”

Read more: Solid-State Batteries Rev Up Electric Cars, Boost Grid Storage