Nissan is now taking merely the first steps toward that aim, with a feasibility study laboratory in which it is experimenting with handmade, limited-run batteries. However, if everything goes according to plan, the small-scale, covert workshop would result in the opening of a pilot plant in 2024 and mass-scale manufacturing in 2028.
Nissan is wrestling with this critical new technology while a slew of startups and practically every traditional competitor, from Toyota and Volkswagen to General Motors, scramble to find the best path to success.
A look inside Nissan’s laboratory demonstrates just how difficult and time-consuming the path to solid state will be.
The 1,400-square-foot workshop is a walled-off dry chamber located within an ancient warehouse within Nissan’s Oppama production complex. It was formerly used by engineers to prototype new catalysts.
A group of ten workers there meticulously mixes an electrolyte slurry by hand, scooping cathode powder from a plastic cup with a long spoon. They combine it into an inky black sludge and spread it like pancake batter onto thin metal sheets — two cells at a time.
After drying, the sheets are compressed with three times the pressure used in normal lithium ion cells in a stamping machine resembling a telephone booth.
The electrolyte sheets are then trimmed to the right size and neatly stacked with the anode sheets. Finally, they vacuum-seal four-layer cell arrays inside aluminium foil bags.
The work is meticulous and lengthy. The majority of processes are carried out in plexiglass glove boxes to ensure extreme cleanliness and low humidity. Due to the extreme dryness of the rooms, technicians are required to take two-hour hydration breaks.