Will 2021 be the year Toyota jolts the car world with its latest electric prototype?

The carmaker is developing a new battery, and it is keen for the world to know about it

A man walks past a Toyota logo at the Tokyo Motor Show, in Tokyo, Japan October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Edgar Su

The push to produce a car battery that will convert even the most fussy petrolheads over to the electric cause is ongoing, with every mainstream manufacturer hoping 2021 will be the year they’ll turn a few heads.

It’s all about reducing charge times and getting as many kilometres as possible out of a single charge, of course. Tesla is currently the most prominent brand in the field of electrification, but this area is one all manufacturers have their best and brightest working on.

Now, Toyota has announced what it hopes will be a world first. In collaboration with Subaru, the manufacturer says it will introduce a new, solid-state battery (as opposed to the lithium-ion variety), which it claims will allow a car to travel 500 kilometres on a single charge. And, more importantly, require just 10 minutes to juice up from empty.

Another advantage of these powerpacks is that they deteriorate at a slower rate than their counterparts, with some estimates suggesting they could retain 90 per cent of their best performance over a 30-year period. They are also less combustible, which can only be good news.

The manufacturer is putting it into a prototype vehicle, but it says it will be selling the solid-state battery in the early 2020s.

Toyota is not along in exploring this particular line of technology. Fellow Japanese carmaker Nissan and German rival Volkswagen are also making forays into the field of solid-state batteries.

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