Nissan’s Solid-State Battery Breakthrough Promises Double EV Range—If The Company Survives Until 2028

Nissan has developed prototype solid-state battery cells that promise to double driving range while cutting charging times in half compared to current lithium-ion batteries. The Japanese automaker achieved these performance targets through a partnership with U.S.-based LiCAP Technologies, marking a critical milestone in next-generation EV battery development—even as the company bleeds billions and shutters factories worldwide.

This isn’t just another battery announcement. It’s a technological lifeline thrown by a drowning automaker that’s betting its future on 2028 production targets while simultaneously slashing 20,000 jobs and selling off assets to survive the present.

Revolutionary Battery Technology With Desperate Timing

Nissan’s prototype all-solid-state battery cells have now reached performance benchmarks that could fundamentally reshape the EV market. The breakthrough builds on Nissan’s partnership with LiCAP Technologies, announced in August 2025, which focuses on developing a revolutionary “dry electrode” production process that eliminates the expensive, time-consuming wet-coating method used in conventional battery manufacturing.

Testing at Nissan’s advanced facilities in Japan and the United States has validated the technology’s potential. The automaker reports the new battery design achieves a significant jump in energy density and thermal efficiency, allowing vehicles to travel substantially farther between charges while reducing charging downtime to levels approaching gasoline refueling convenience.

Manufacturing Innovation Targets Cost Reduction

The key to Nissan’s confidence lies in LiCAP’s proprietary Activated Dry Electrode technology, which transforms how battery electrodes are produced. Traditional wet-coating involves mixing active materials with solvents, coating them onto collectors, then drying them in high-temperature ovens—a process that consumes massive energy and time. LiCAP’s dry process uses raw material powder applied directly to current collectors and flattened with roll presses, cutting production steps while reducing environmental impact.

This manufacturing efficiency is critical for Nissan’s ambitious cost targets. The company aims to achieve $75 per kilowatt-hour for battery packs, significantly below 2024’s industry average of $115 per kWh. Reaching that price point would make EVs competitive with gasoline vehicles on sticker price alone, eliminating one of the biggest barriers to mass adoption.

Nissan opened its all-solid-state battery pilot production line at its Yokohama plant in January 2025. The facility serves as a proving ground for scaling the technology from laboratory prototypes to mass-production-ready processes, testing everything from electrode manufacturing to cell assembly and quality control.

Production Timeline Faces Competitive Pressure

Nissan has committed to launching its first EVs equipped with in-house developed solid-state batteries by fiscal year 2028. While this represents an aggressive timeline for bringing revolutionary technology to market, the company faces fierce competition from rivals pursuing the same holy grail of EV batteries.

Chinese automaker Chery recently claimed 808-mile range with a solid-state battery prototype boasting 600 watt-hours per kilogram energy density, targeting 2027 production. Stellantis and Factorial validated 375 Wh/kg cells that charge from 15% to 90% in just 18 minutes, planning demonstration fleets by 2026. Toyota, leveraging partnerships with Sumitomo Metal Mining, aims for solid-state production as early as fiscal year 2027.

Perhaps most threatening: Chinese battery giants CATL and BYD, which control 55% of global battery sales, are both targeting solid-state launches around 2027. These companies possess the manufacturing scale and supply chain dominance that Japanese automakers like Nissan lost years ago.

Real-World Applications Still Speculative

While Nissan hasn’t confirmed which models will debut the new battery technology, industry speculation points toward future versions of the Ariya crossover or the company’s next compact EV platform. If performance claims hold up in real-world testing, EVs built with this technology could deliver more than 600 miles of range while recharging in less than half an hour—specifications that would reignite interest in Nissan’s performance sub-brands and potentially position the automaker as a frontrunner in the electric market.

The company’s investment into advanced battery chemistries reflects its broader push to align electric performance with affordability, longevity, and mass scalability. This approach mirrors global trends where automakers are pooling resources to overcome the cost and complexity of energy storage innovation.

EVXL’s Take

The timing of this announcement is almost comically tragic. Here’s Nissan, trumpeting a battery breakthrough that could revolutionize EVs by 2028, while simultaneously fighting for survival in 2025.

Let’s connect the dots from our recent coverage: In May, we reported that Nissan slashed 20,000 jobs and closed seven assembly plants after posting a $4.48 billion loss. The same month, the company announced plans to sell its $700 million Yokohama headquarters specifically to raise capital for “next-generation battery technology.” In July, Nissan shut down the historic Oppama plant that built the original Leaf—the vehicle that made Nissan an EV pioneer in 2010.

The company’s desperation shows in its scramble for partners. After merger talks with Honda collapsed in February, Toyota reportedly reached out—but nothing materialized. Nissan instead turned to Ford-SK for U.S. battery supply and now LiCAP for solid-state technology. This isn’t strategic collaboration—it’s survival mode.

The real question isn’t whether solid-state batteries work. We’ve seen impressive claims from Stellantis, Mercedes, and Chinese manufacturers. The question is whether Nissan can survive until 2028 to bring this technology to market. With Chinese competitors like Chery and BYD targeting 2027 production and controlling over half of global battery sales, Nissan’s three-year timeline might as well be a decade.

This announcement feels less like innovation leadership and more like a press release designed to reassure nervous investors that there’s still a plan. The technology is real, the partnership with LiCAP is legitimate, and the 2028 target might even be achievable. But none of that matters if the company runs out of cash before the breakthrough reaches production.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.