That’s a very vague claim. What matters in the end is of they are able to manufacture those solid state batteries at scale and cheaply. That’s the only reason we don’t have them in cars at the moment: they beat current lithium ion batteries on every other metrics.
And in this Toyota only say the could make them way cheaper. That’s quite undefined, especially for a company who made a lot of promises on their hydrogen vehicles, without really delivering on them.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Toyota has been dragging it’s feet for a while now and their customers, stockholders and Japan’s government is growing more and more frustrated with them.
I’ve learned to temper my excitement for any battery breakthrough, but at the same time I still tend to trust Toyota not to blatantly spout nonsense (ignoring self charging hybrids). Their strategy always seemed to be wait until solid state was ready, so hopefully they make it happen before having to resort to backup plans to stay relevant.
