China has reportedly started operations of the country’s first solid-state battery production line in the city of Kunshan, in eastern Jiangsu Province.
Chinese start-up Qing Tao (Kunshan) Energy Development, led by Nan Cewen, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has invested CNY1 billion (US$144m) in the project, China’s state Xinhua News Agency said.
The production line is capable of producing 0.1 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of solid-state batteries every year, which have an energy density of more than 400 watt hours per kilogramme, Xinhua said.
According to the agency, Nan announced the line’s operation on 19 November saying the batteries “would first be utilised on special equipment and high-end digital products”.
Kunshan has engaged with a number of large car manufacturers to produce batteries for electric vehicles by 2020, when the company’s annual production capacity is expected to reach 0.7GWh every year, Nan said.
Nan founded Kunshan with several PhD graduates from Tsinghua University in 2014, Xinhua said.
