Volkswagen Possibly Will Forge Ahead With Solid State Batteries

2015 Volkswagen e-Golf (Credit: Volkswagen )

VW is looking to launch a new electric vehicle in the United States sometime around 2018. While it already sells the e-Golf in the States, the new model will likely at least double the 83-mile driving range the e-Golf delivers. Many consumers have cited range anxiety, or the fear that a car won’t get them where they need to travel, as a big factor that keeps them from purchasing an electric vehicle.

It’s no secret that Volkswagen wants to rule the world, at least when it comes to cars. The Germans are questing to conquer the American market, which is the company’s biggest hurdle for becoming the largest automaker in the world. Electric cars are a rapidly growing and key segment in the country, and in the near future it will become even more important.

The word is that Volkswagen is giving serious though to pioneering solid state batteries, using them to improve the range and performance of future electric vehicles. VW owns stock in QuantumScape, a battery startup company that has been innovating a new solid state battery. It’s possible that Volkswagen will buy a large chunk of QuantumScape, allowing it to churn out electric models that can compete against the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and maybe even the growing lineup of vehicles being made by Tesla. Bloomberg says VW management will make the call about going forward with solid state batteries by the summer of this year.

With solid-state batteries, the liquid electrolytes are swapped out for a solid material. Supposedly, the technology would allow a battery of a certain size to store more electricity. Solid-state batteries are also potentially fireproof, which gets rid of another big concern many people have when it comes to electric cars.

Not that long ago, Martin Winterkorn, who is the CEO of the Volkswagen Group, said that solid state batteries are likely the future of electric cars. He even stated that a vehicle using the technology could possible travel 430 miles or further on a single charge.