In five years, it will be the world of semi-solid batteries?

The technology that can make money is qualified to talk about the future.

On August 5, one month after MG released its "All in New Energy" strategy, the new MG4 was launched for pre-sale, and one version of the model will be equipped with SAIC's self-developed and globally first mass-produced semi-solid batteries to enter the 100,000-level market.

Chen Cui, general manager of SAIC MG Brand Business Department, said that the new MG4 will be equipped with the second generation semi-solid batteries of SAIC Qingtao. In addition, in 2025, SAIC plans to launch a number of models equipped with semi-solid batteries. In addition to the new MG4, Lantu Chasing Light and Weilai ET9 all have plans to launch models with semi-solid batteries. With more and more semi-solid batteries loaded, the industry believes that the competition pattern of the power battery industry will usher in a period of remodeling. Zhu Xingbao, chief scientist of Guoxuan Gaoke, said, "In five years, semi-solid is the leading role." Some people agree with this assertion, while others find it radical. But no one dares to ignore that "from semi-solid-state batteries to all-solid-state batteries" is the general trend. Walk on two legs In the summer of 2025, an MG4 completed some extreme tests, with zero smoke and zero fire in the battery after a three-way ten-needle puncture. The key to this battery is the electrolyte, which is only 5% liquid and the rest is solid. "The new MG4 will carry the world's first batch of semi-solid batteries," it can be said that MG bullets loaded, so that the industry's attention once again focused on semi-solid batteries.

According to the general view in the industry, when the content of solid electrolyte in the battery reaches 90% to 95%, it can be called a semi-solid battery. Nowadays, semi-solid batteries have become a hot technology in the field of new energy vehicles. As an industrialization scheme before the maturity of all-solid-state battery technology, semi-solid-state battery technology has the advantages of high safety, high compatibility with existing liquid battery production lines, simple process and low cost. At present, many automobile companies, including SAIC, BYD and Weilai, regard semi-solid batteries as an important direction for the next generation of power batteries. In fact, the global power battery competition route is running towards solid-state batteries. As the core of the next generation of energy storage technology, solid-state batteries are becoming the strategic highland for countries to compete for industrial dominance. However, Chinese players are not prepared to repeat the mistakes of "L4 autopilot" and adopt a "progressive innovation" approach to break Japan's patent encirclement and suppression on solid-state batteries. As of May 2025, the number of patent applications for solid-state batteries in the world has exceeded 100000, with Japan ranking first with 37%, and Toyota leading with more than 2100 applications and more than 1200 authorized patents. At present, from the layout of global automobile companies and power battery companies, it is still a big problem to achieve mass production of all-solid-state batteries. The mass production of all-solid-state batteries still needs to overcome the core problems such as interface impedance and lithium dendrite inhibition. Toyota, QuantumScape and other companies in the all-solid-state camp have not yet announced any binding plans for mass-produced models. Toyota, for example, holds more than 1200 patents and monopolizes 63% of the core technology of sulfide electrolyte, but has repeatedly delayed commercialization due to mass production problems. Although Toyota plans to launch an all-solid-state model in 2027 with a range of 1200 kilometers, Samsung SDI aims to mass-produce batteries that charge 80% in 9 minutes in 2027. BYD has also set a target to load about 1000 all-solid-state batteries in batches in 2027. The schedule is the speed of the arena.

However, Zeng Yuqun, chairman of CATL, said that it would take at least 8 to 10 years for solid-state batteries to go from laboratory samples to mass production. The gap between the laboratory and the mass production line is still too clear to be ignored in the battery industry. Therefore, the domestic power battery head enterprises have chosen solid-state batteries and semi-solid-state batteries to "walk on two legs". "First use the semi-solid state to hit the market, and then use the accumulated experience to conquer the all-solid state." It is a smart route to take the lead in semi-solid state rather than directly challenging all-solid-state technology. At present, the condensed semi-solid batteries in Ningde era have achieved mass production, while constantly tackling the engineering and technical problems of solid-state batteries. BYD continues to invest in the research and development of solid-state batteries while verifying the loading of semi-solid-state batteries. When the news of an explosion came from the laboratory of Guoxuan Gaoke, the pilot line of all-solid-state batteries was officially connected, the localization rate of core equipment was 100%, and even when the loading test began, the mileage of a prototype vehicle carrying "G yuan quasi-solid-state batteries" had exceeded 10000 kilometers. It is reported that the size of Guoxuan Gaoke's all-solid-state R & D team is less than 1/3 of the semi-solid-state team. On the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Interactive Exchange, investors'questions about Guoxuan focused on "when the semi-solid production line will be fully produced", and the all-solid related questions accounted for less than 10%. "In five years, semi-solid is the leading role." Guoxuan Gaoke made a judgment. Many car companies agree with this conclusion. Great Wall Motor was exposed to stop the research and development of all-solid-state battery vehicles and purchase semi-solid-state battery packs instead. The ideal requires Guoxuan Gaoke to deliver 500000 semi-solid batteries compatible with existing BMS systems by 2025. Honeycomb Energy is preparing to produce the first generation of semi-solid batteries in the 2.3GWh semi-solid mass production line in the fourth quarter of this year, which is also the semi-solid batteries that Honeycomb Energy will supply for the next generation of BMW MINI models, and will be supplied on a large scale in 2027. Although the adoption rate of semi-solid batteries in the electric vehicle is lower than expected at first, many automobile companies are actively promoting the mass production and loading of semi-solid batteries, which may be the world of semi-solid batteries within five years in terms of the promotion and technical maturity of automobile companies. Cost and technical barriers are difficult to solve. On the one hand, the breakthrough data of all-solid-state batteries in the laboratory, on the other hand, the firm bet on the semi-solid-state route, behind the technical route dispute, is the naked cost account. The advantage of semi-solid batteries is that "technology maturity, cost control and user needs can form a balance among the three". In the eyes of car companies, compatibility and manufacturability are more important than laboratory parameters. All-solid-state battery, as its name implies, is to replace all the liquid electrolyte in the battery with solid-state materials. Among them, sulfide is the nano-scale electrolyte material needed for all-solid-state batteries. At present, Toyota, Honda and Nissan concentrate their efforts on the sulfide electrolyte route. There are two major problems in all-solid-state batteries, one is cost, the other is technology. Solid-state batteries cost eight times as much as liquid batteries. At present, 80% of high-purity lithium sulfide in the domestic market is still imported. Moreover, the semi-solid battery only needs to replace part of the electrolyte, and the cathode material can directly use the existing lithium iron phosphate or ternary system.

CATL once complained at the performance meeting that solid-state batteries are now "the heat of capital is higher than that of industry". If you change the solid-state battery, you can make the car price of 300000 yuan break millions directly. Another cost is in the production line. The single equipment of solid-state battery production line is 200 million yuan. According to SAIC Qingtao Energy, 70% of the production line equipment for all-solid-state batteries should be adjusted. This means that the existing production lines basically have to be rebuilt. "The cost of semi-solid production line transformation is 80% lower than that of all-solid production line, which is the bottom line for car companies to dare to sign long orders." Semi-solid batteries can use 70% of the production equipment (such as coating and winding) of existing liquid batteries, and the cost of equipment modification is 80% lower than that of all-solid batteries. According to Nikkei Asia Review, a solid-state battery production line with an annual output of 10g Wh has invested up to 18 billion yuan, 2.5 times that of a liquid lithium battery production line of the same scale. According to SAIC, "Only when there is a production line can it be reliable". At the launch of the new MG4, Li E, general manager of SAIC Qingtao, said that semi-solid batteries have been tested since 2021, and a complete mass production system has been established from raw material research and development, electrode preparation, thermal compounding of cathode and electrolyte, to mass production of batteries.