Japan has been slow to the game when it comes to electric cars. While Toyota toyed around with a RAV4 EV in the late 90s, and even produced it all the way until 2014, the world’s largest carmaker did not go whole hog with an EV until the 2020s and the bZ4x. Of course, Nissan bucked this trend with its Leaf, but overall, the nation has had hybrid and hydrogen as its main avenue of green driving. The limitations of earlier electrification combined with the expense of importing materials had Japan shy away from the EV. However, Japan has finally caught up with the times.
Japan is now moving into the battery space. As EVs grow, leaps in battery technology are the main thing that will help them compete against traditional ICE cars, as range anxiety remains a major concern for buyers. Enter solid-state batteries. The battery technology is actually about 200 years old, discovered by Michael Faraday, but it has come back in style because of its potential for EVs. Essentially, it uses a solid electrode instead of the typical liquid one, hence the name. The culmination of this technology is Toyota’s new battery. It obliterates the current set of EVs, by about one and half times as much. Here’s how Japan is looking to push ahead in the EV war.
