• Mercedes-Benz and Factorial announced a prototype EQS equipped with a solid-state battery. Road testing has already started.
• Solid-state batteries promise more range, faster charging times and better fire safety at similar or reduced weight compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries.
• The EQS is expected to deliver 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) of range on the WLTP cycle.

Solid-state batteries have been a long time coming. For years, it felt like they were stuck in the lab-experiment phase, but that’s finally starting to change with more real-world applications. 

Mercedes-Benz and American battery start-up Factorial Energy have developed a prototype EQS equipped with a solid-state battery. The companies claim its the “world’s first solid-state battery vehicle from a global OEM.” It’s already out on the road doing test runs.

The EQS is expected to deliver 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) of range, the automaker announced on Monday. That’s more than 25% improvement over the WLTP range of the current EQS 450+ in the U.K., which stands at around 481 miles. The current EQS gets a usable battery capacity of 118 kilowatt-hours.

Photo by: Mercedes-Benz

WLTP figures are typically about 22% higher than EPA estimates, so the EQS would still deliver about 527 miles of range by the American standards. That’s very close to what a Lucid Air can already achieve with a traditional NMC pack.

But the EQS’ solid-state pack brings weight and efficiency advantages. The automaker claims that the solid-state pack delivers 25% more range with the same size and weight of the current lithium-ion packs. And there’s potential to increase the range up to 40%.

A traditional lithium-ion battery uses a liquid electrolyte to move electrons between charge cycles. A solid-state battery uses a solid electrolyte, allowing more energy density and improved fire safety. It also promises significant weight reductions on both the pack level and for overall vehicle weight.

Semi-solid-state batteries use a gel-like electrolyte, splitting the difference between a traditional liquid electrolyte and a true solid-state solution. Several Chinese EVs like the Nio ET7 and IM L6 are already equipped with those and in production, available to the general public. They’re considered a “hybrid” solution and can leverage existing manufacturing processes and are faster to scale up.

Autocar reported that the battery being tested on the EQS marks the initial step towards incorporating Factorial’s more advanced “Solstice” all-solid-state battery (ASSB). InsideEVs has reached out to Factorial to confirm if that initial step involves a semi-solid state pack or an ASSB.

Photo by: Mercedes-Benz

The battery on the EQS also features a lithium-metal anode, which promises to store more energy than traditional graphite anodes in the same amount of space. However, studies suggest that dendrite formation can be a concern for lithium-metal chemistries. They are small metal projections that can short a battery, and have been a major obstacle in the development of solid-state batteries. Mercedes and Factorial must have made some progress there, though, if they’re moving forward with this design.

Factorial’s battery on the EQS uses a “floating cell carrier.” When the battery charges, the material expands, and when it discharges, it contracts. To support this expansion and contraction of materials, the battery is equipped with pneumatic actuators developed by Mercedes’ Formula 1 engineers at its motorsport headquarters in Brixworth, U.K.

Photo by: Mercedes-Benz

Factorial has also teamed up with Stellantis and the Hyundai Motor Group to develop solid-state cells. A demonstration fleet of the Dodge Charger Daytona EV equipped with Factorial’s semi-solid-state battery is expected to begin road-testing next year. InsideEVs also interviewed Factorial CEO Siyu Huang recently, who seemed confident about solid-state batteries entering mass manufacturing by the end of the decade.

What we don’t know yet about the EQS is how long the road-testing phase will last or how much an eventual road car will cost. But the first production car is expected to hit the roads before the end of the decade.

Even then, it’s a big milestone that solid-state tech is finally out of the lab and finally into road cars that we might someday drive.

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