According to CarNewsChina, Dongfeng will start mass-producing its next-generation battery in the second half of this year and immediately start integrating it into vehicles.
That would make it the first brand to offer solid-state at scale and could open opportunities for Peugeot, with whom the brand has strengthened its ties. But as with many battery promises, the news comes with a caveat.
Exceeding 1,000 km
The cell from Dongfeng delivers an energy density of 350 Wh/kg, roughly double that of today’s mainstream lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells and one-third that of lithium-ion cells. The pack is expected to enable a driving range exceeding 1,000 km while weighing 30% less than a conventional lithium/ion equivalent.
Dongfeng officially calls these batteries ‘solid-state’, but – once again – semi-solid state is a more accurate description. The battery uses an oxide-polymer composite electrolyte.
That means the cell is not purely a solid-state device in the way physicists or engineers at Toyota or QuantumScape would use the term. It’s what the industry calls a hybrid construction, blending solid electrolyte material with residual liquid elements.
This is not a minor definition dispute. China’s industry regulator has been drafting rules to standardize naming, specifically requiring that semi-solid batteries be called ‘solid-liquid batteries’ to prevent public confusion with the fully solid-state variety.
In MG’s footsteps
That distinction matters because the safety and energy density benefits of true all-solid-state chemistry are substantially greater than what oxide/polymer composites currently deliver.
The latter are regarded as a stepping stone to the former. In that respect, Dongfeng is following in the footsteps of MG, which has already commercialized its Solid Core semi-solid state pack and will be coming to Europe by the end of the year.
With that out of the way, the verifiable performance numbers from Dongfeng’s battery remain impressive. In cold-weather testing conducted at winter temperatures of -30°C, the battery retained over 74% of its charge capacity and delivered a total range of more than 1,000 km.
That cold-performance figure is a meaningful improvement over conventional lithium/ion, which typically retains around 60% at the same temperature.
Most viable path to mass production
Safety testing results are equally notable. The cell survived being compressed to half of its original thickness while remaining operational, and passed a 170°C thermal test without emitting smoke or fire.
For comparison, China’s national safety standard is 130°C. The elimination of liquid electrolyte significantly reduces fire risk compared to conventional cells, even if it doesn’t eliminate it (as with solid-state cells).
The semi-solid-state battery is widely recognized in the industry as the most viable path to rapid mass-market adoption because it is compatible with both existing production equipment and established material supply chains. The fully solid-state battery, with no liquid component at all, remains a different and much harder challenge.
Dodge Charger testing solid-state
It is illustrated by Dongfeng’s industrial partner Stellantis. The car group announced this week it was starting prototype testing of its Dodge Charger performance EV featuring solid-state battery cells from supplier Factorial.
This is a genuine, solid-state pack that delivers 90% recharge in just 18 minutes and an energy density of 375 Wh/kg. Testing is a real-world verification of the lab results. The cells are integrated in an existing battery packaging structure to scale up industrial applications more rapidly.
Nonetheless, the project is more or less a toe in the water, as no timing was communicated on validation and final production. Only last week, Lotus, which takes a keen interest in true solid-state to comply with its ‘light is right’ philosophy, claimed mass production is still a decade away. Despite the Chinese race to commercialization, there’s a strong consensus on that deadline.
