Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#321

Post by jjk166 » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 9:54 PM UTC

qwery wrote: post #320

jjk166 wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most usage of the term 'battery' is independent of technology, outside of usually wanting electricity as the interface. The fact that most batteries people talk about happen to be electrochemical cells is incidental -- it's irrelevant to whatever they are actually talking about. So yes, a lot of the time 'battery' happens to refer to electrochemical cells, but it also refers to energy storage devices in general, wh…

Your argument seems to be that some bits of tree doesn't constitute what we would usually call a "device", and that's fair enough really. I called that out myself in the same comment, so I guess you picked up what I was laying down! The "wood is a solid-state battery" thing was an absurd rhetorical device I used to point out -- particularly in a field so significantly connected to electronics -- that merely substitut…

It's not a reference to solid-state electronics, it's a reference to solid state chemical reactions. These are reactions where the reagents are all in the solid state (hence the name).

A steam engine isn't a solid-state motor.

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#322

Post by iso1631 » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 10:29 AM UTC

laxpri wrote: post #306

iso1631 wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd have to compare the fire risk of a high density battery vs a substation. But the beauty of battery and solar/wind is that it can be far more distributed. This of course means far harder to take out -- a wildfire near a nuclear power plant could knock out 3GW of capacity, a wildfire near one of 50x 60MW solar plants would knock out 60MW of capacity. Solar might not be the only solution in a country at a high lat…

you mean fission . thats why we need fusion

Sure, when you've got a working plant at a scale, cost and reliability less than renewable+storage let me know.

How much does a 5GW fusion plant cost today, how long does it take to build, what's the total cost over say 30 years, and how much energy will it generate in that time, what are the supply chain risks and what are the environmental risks (if there's an earthquake or wildfire nearby how much do you lose)

We know the answer for renewable, and renewable+storage, and nuclear fission, gas, coal, hydro etc.

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#323

Post by Toutouxc » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC

qwery wrote: post #83

If you know a bit about electronics, you might be a bit surprised by the term 'solid-state battery'. It's a poor analogue to the more common usage of solid-state with semiconductors, integrated circuits, etc. -- a "solid-state" cell is still a chemical cell. It's not a paradigm shift on the level of, say, replacing a relay with a MOSFET.

I believe you’ve made all that up. The battery is “solid state” as in “solid state of matter”. There are no liquids, gases or plasma in the battery. It’s an elementary school physics term.

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#324

Post by Toutouxc » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #198

rogerrogerr wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you mostly aren’t charging to 80%, usually it’s closer to 40-60%.

heh, ok, that’s strange. So when you say it’s got a 350 mile range, but then make the point you only need to charge to 40% that you would be fine with a single vehicle that had a 140mile range? I swear buying an EV in 2026 breaks brains. The push back has been so bad because the mfgs pushed the single car lie… but the people that jumped in now need to defend their $60,000 purchases. I get it, but please don’t think y…

I don’t understand how a self-proclaimed engineer can’t grasp the concept of a non-linear charging curve and also spread so much absolute crap about EVs. Fucking 2 hours of charging, my 28kEUR EV could drive from Prague to Spain on two hours of charging.

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#325

Post by Toutouxc » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 5:28 PM UTC

zuzululu wrote: post #112

not_the_fda wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a huge issue in cold climates.

uphills + cold/hot climates, the ranges won't be able to compete with ICE. its basic physics. cold uphill still reduces charging speed, available power, and range, while sustained heat accelerates degradation. Thermal-management systems mitigate those weaknesses by consuming energy and adding cost, weight, and complexity. meanwhile ICE has gotten ridiculously clean and efficient over the years it is more efficient at…

> Ton of used EVs not being sold because the battery replacement is somewhere between 40~60% of the car's value.

These EVs, are they in the room with us?

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#326

Post by Toutouxc » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 5:38 PM UTC

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #240

thelastgallon wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats right, most families with 2 cars can immediately switch to an EV and use it as a daily driver.

This is the correct use for EV. A second car, around town. Perfect. The EV push back is because the MBAs decide to market them as replacement daily drivers. And despite the people that went all in being part of the same reality that has caused the massive pushback against EVs… they will defend their purchases to the death. I have had two EVs for around town. Love em. But not real for only car outside of California.

Very happy with an EV as our only car here in Europe. No charger at home. The car does about 24k kilometers per year, including road trips and vacations. Remember that there are other countries on the planet and lots of other people.

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#327

Post by Toutouxc » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 5:41 PM UTC

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #295

dzhiurgis wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect there's a big of cognitive dissonance here. My guess US has more emphasis on road trips, longer distances, vastly more wilderness areas, etc. Europe is mostly urbanized it's almost boring. Dunno about China, but I guess they cracked charging infrastructure.

Exactly this. “Oh, but Norway uses EVs a ton!” … cool, Norway is the size of an average US state, the population of Connecticut, over an extremely thin area which optimizes one vector of infrastructure automatically. And makes the majority of its money on oil. Geez, almost like EV ultra-success stories aren’t even remotely comparable the rest of the world.

If Norway is the size of an US state, what’s stopping every state from being like Norway? Or does it somehow matter for EV efficiency or charging speed how far away the borders are?

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#328

Post by fennecbutt » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 10:05 PM UTC

qwery wrote: post #83

If you know a bit about electronics, you might be a bit surprised by the term 'solid-state battery'. It's a poor analogue to the more common usage of solid-state with semiconductors, integrated circuits, etc. -- a "solid-state" cell is still a chemical cell. It's not a paradigm shift on the level of, say, replacing a relay with a MOSFET.

I mean the ultimate goal is still to surely have literally that. A solid state battery.

Tbf just like computronium, I actually don't care if my battery is liquid or solid but that almost every atom or molecule that makes up the battery is used for that purpose. I guess we could call it powertronium!

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#329

Post by gabrielhidasy » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

fhn wrote: post #168

gabrielhidasy wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends, if you are turning that electricity into heat using a heat-pump you might win on most situations (maybe lose if the weather is really cold outside, unless you add geothermal loops, but then its a lot more expensive to make)

No it wouldn't depend. Electricity generation and electricity transfer has losses. Gas transfer has loss only if there is a leak.

But a gas burning furnace can have 100% efficiency, that is trash compared to what I get from a heat pump considering a gas power-plant (60%) * national grid efficiency (90%) * heat-pump 500% efficiency where I am (combined efficiency around 270%, or 2.7 times the gas furnace).

The only gas-based solution to get close would be using a gas generator at home (30%) to power the 500% heat-pump, and routing the 70% of waste heat inside (to get a combined 220% efficiency).

But that heavily depends on the heat-pump efficiency, which will depend on your ambient heat and instalation.

Re: Why is everyone trying to build a solid-state battery?

#330

Post by capitainenemo » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

jjk166 wrote: post #317

vablings wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still more than enough to burn your windpipe, skin to 2/3rd degree and permanently disfigure you

All of which are symptoms of burning, not explosion.

And was still not really possible without some really unlikely conditions. Not that car fires aren't dangerous, regardless of whether the vehicle is ICE or otherwise, but the fireball thing doesn't really happen.