Stellantis says it will put a âdemonstration fleetâ of Dodge Charger Daytonas on the road by 2026, equipped with solid-state battery technology thatâs lighter, more energy-dense, and could eventually make for cheaper EVs. The company calls the demo fleet a âkey next stepâ toward making solid-state EVs that you can actually buy.
Technology
Dodge Chargers with semi-solid-state batteries may hit the road in 2026
Stellantis plans to demonstrate a fleet of Dodge Charger Daytonas equipped with semi-solid-state batteries in 2026, using tech that Mercedes will also deploy in the future.
The cars will be built on its STLA Large EV platform, which is meant to underpin more than just the Chargers itâs demoing next year. If its demo is successful, thereâs a chance that cars from brands like Maserati and Jeep will get the new battery tech, too.
Thereâs probably a reason Stellantis says âsolid-state battery technologyâ rather than simply solid-state batteries. Thatâs because these Chargers will use semi-solid-state batteries, which means theyâre still made with liquid electrolytes too. That hybrid approach carries benefits like lighter weight and more range, but doesnât totally obviate the fire risk of traditional lithium batteries.
Factorial, which makes the batteries Stellantis will use, claims its semi-solid-state tech could push EV range up by as much as 50 percent versus todayâs electric cars, and that the batteries have âdrop-in compatibility with existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing infrastructure,â making them cheaper and easier to produce than switching to full solid-state tech would be.
Solid-state batteries have been hard to develop and not every company has been able to hack it. Nissan had promised it would be producing âall-solid-stateâ EVs by 2028, but seemed to walk that back this year. Fisker totally abandoned its own efforts to make solid-state batteries in 2021. But Volkswagen, which was to provide Fiskerâs platform, recently announced that its batteries had passed an endurance test.
Stellantisâ announcement is a sign of progress, and itâs not the only company making some. Hyundai is a Factorial investor, and so is Mercedes, which said it would have Factorialâs semi-solid-state batteries âin EVs on the road in 2026,â according to Reuters. Honda plans to introduce solid-state EVs in the latter half of the decade, while Toyotaâs roadmap includes mass-producing solid-state batteries that enable more than 621 miles of range by 2028.
In China, IM Motor launched the L6, a semi-solid-state battery-driven EV, in April, while its sister brand, MG, announced it will unveil one in Europe next year.