EV Batteries

[kobayashiGT]

Source: https://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/tech-news-nissan-to-launch-first-ev-with-solid-state-battery-by-2028

Nissan aims to launch an EV with all-solid-state batteries by 2028.

The company shared the goal when unveiling its prototype production facility at the Nissan Research Center in Kanagawa Prefecture. The prototype production facility will also be the site for studies on materials, design and manufacturing processes. A pilot production line at its Yokohama Plant is planned for 2024.

Nissan believes all-solid-state batteries will be a game changer as they boast twice the energy density of lithium-ion batteries. In addition, all-solid-state batteries have significantly shorter charging time and incur lower production costs. The company claims all-solid-state batteries can reduce prices of battery packs to $75 per kWh in 2028, and to $65 per kWh thereafter. 

The company announced in November 2021 that it will spend $18 billion over the next five years to accelerate the electrification of its offerings. It also announced four new electronic concept vehicles.

[Fitvip]

The blue concept without the skull cap looks like Honda E. 

If the solid state battery is fire proof, it would be good!!

[Heartbreakid]

Solid state battery is the way to go. Faster charging times, more compact, more range and if I read correctly, much safer than lithium ones.

[Inlinefour]

buy this car got complimentary power bank bo... asking for my friend

 

he wish to have fire extinguisher too 🙊🙊🙊

[steveting99]

Tried to look for a thread where the high voltage batteries (as well as packs) of EVs are discussed and information can be found. With nothing on MCF, decided to begin one here.

As a starting point, there's a general mis-conception in EV batteries. There's Fear mongering, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) that that the high voltage battery pack in EVs will have a short life. Generally, the comparison is made to mobile devices that most are familiar with and these typically last for a few years. The FUD is one either swaps the mobile device with the latest/greatest unit or live with a degraded battery and suffer useability issues.

To to swap a battery in a mobile device is a much lower cost item than an existing vehicle, so the idea is that ICE owner will be better off than a BEV owner who's taking on a disproportionate bigger risk. I.e. a large out of pocket expense when the high voltage battery's State of Health (SoH) reaches below 70% and thus have to consider replacing it with a new pack or sell it for next to nothing in the used market or live with the reduce range. None of these options look good.

All new BEV ride manufacturers' provide a guarantee on the high voltage battery pack. Industry standard is the manufacturer will replace the battery pack when the SOH reaches 70% or below. So its important to get the battery curve from the manufacturer to check the battery degradation over each charge cycle for your particular ride. Just about all manufacturers' offer 6 to 10 years or XXX,XXX kms - which ever comes first on the high voltage battery pack.  

For some owners, the manufacturers' guarantee may not be enough to ease or alleviate the FUD - the argument being there's no real world evidence or experience to back it up. As BEVs are new on the market compared to ICE rides that have decades of data to back it up. There will always be an exception, i.e. the petrol heads that love to burn dead dino juice. It wont matter for these guys and girls. The good thing is that the 2026 budget has levelized the playing field between ICE and BEV rides by raiding the PARF piggy bank. This will be the last time that existing ICE rides can use PARF as significant deposit to help offset cost for a new ICE ride. That means more out of pocket expense and higher depreciation rate going forward for ICE owners.🤑

Well there's BEV data available now that goes back to a decade. Recently, Generational+ in the UK has released its 2025 report and is available here: https://www.generational.ac/2025-battery-performance-index/. Below is a summary.

 

Even older rides that are eight to 12 years old has a SoH of 85% in the medium cohort. See table below. Percentiles show how the high voltage battery pack compares to others of the same age. The 50th percentile is the middle point, where half the rides perform better and half perform worse; i.e the famous coin toss. The 75th percentile represents better than average health, while the 25th percentile represents the lower performing quartile. 

Which means that 70% SoH guarantee by manufacturers' can be easily met and the vast majority of new BEV rides in Singapore can last for at least one CoE cycle - possibly two.

Interestingly, Generational+ claims that mileage alone on A bEV is not a reliable predictor of battery condition or value of the ride. That puts the mileage concept on ICE rides in a bit of quandary due to a BEV having less moving parts that experience wear and tear. 

Will post a follow up once Generational+ does there 2026 study.

[steveting99]

An example of a battery curve is from BYD. The CBV4A is BYD's 1st generation blade battery that uses LFP chemistry. Have confirmed with the SE that all of BYD's sold in Singapore uses CB4A type cell.

Spec details are here.

BYD is famous for their blade battery cell to pack design that saves space and increases volumetric efficiency (can pack more cells into the vehicle) as shown in the pic below.

BYD claims their battery pack is integrated in the vehicles structure - giving it more rigidity and strength compared to normal rides.

 

I.e. its safer and can survive crash tests carried out by independent 3rd parties such as Euro NCAP.

Need to check individual ride's crash test results to confirm BYD's claim. 

Thing to note is that the high voltage battery pack design and implementation of BYD's vehicles makes it extremely hard to replace the individual cells of the battery pack. Don't think even Sime Darby / Vantage Auto have anyone nor the equipment in Singapore that can do the job. News article explains why its almost impossible to replace the individual cells within BYD's battery pack is here: https://english.biznessnews.com/posts/replacing-byd-blade-battery-cells-in-nepal-is-impossible-cimex-ceo-misled-customers-to-boost-sales

Only in China can one replace individual cells within BYD's battery pack. 

Edited February 23 by steveting99
additional text and typo

[Rm2s]

Great effort Steve!

My car has about 2 years of COE left so it's about time for me to learn more about EV in general and its batteries in particular.

I followed a person (on social media) who has worked many years in the car industry in Singapore. His recent recommendation to his friends was to NOT buy EVs using NMC batteries. The reasoning is that NMC has worst protection against thermal runaway. The minimum, based on this person's recommendation is to buy one with LFP. I also noted that he has association with some brands in Singapore having done consultations with them, so his opinion may skewed. Do you have a take on choice of battery chemistry (or its construction) that will sway you from one to the other?

Ref on batteries replacement, I think it will get more and more difficult since manufacturers are now "embed" batteries into car frame for rigidity/protection as well as attempting to get even more space for car interior.

[steveting99]

@Rm2s Let me try to answer your question on the battery chemistries by referring to the new battery safety standard issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in April 2025. The new standard is commonly referred to as GB38031-2025 with the title of "Safety Requirements for Power Batteries of Electric Vehicles".

For type approvals on all New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) in China, GB38031-2025 comes into effect on 1-Jul-2026. So not too far from now. All existing NEVs that have been given type approval have a 12-month grace period to comply with this new standard (i.e. by 1-Jul-2027). 

The new GB38031-2025 standard includes 7 single-cell tests and 17 battery pack or system tests. It includes a newly added battery bottom impact test, a safety test after multiple fast charging cycles and a more stringent safety requirement on heat diffusion. Article about is here: https://www.batterytechonline.com/ev-batteries/automakers-face-stricter-ev-battery-standards-in-china It's much harder to pass compared with the older GB38031-2020 version (IEC 62660 in Europe or UN ECE R100-05 for the rest of the world). The older standard has a lower requirement in that the battery not catch fire or explode within 5 minutes after thermal runaway.

GB38031-2025 has a “no fire, no explosion and no smoke to cause harm to occupants.” philosophy. Below is a comparison of new standard vs old standard.

Now to the question of which chemistry is better - LFP or NMC? As NMC has higher energy density compared to LFP, so its lighter and this will have a longer range. But the cycle life of NMC is around half of LFP and the production costs for NMC chemistry is generally higher compared to LFP, see chart below.

Also, most manufacturer's don't recommend NMC to be fully charged to 100% all the time (most limit it to 80%), as it'll accelerate battery cell degradation - while LFP can be fully charged to 100% and this is generally recommended by the Battery Monitoring & Management System. TBH, once the 80% rule is applied to NMC, it's a smaller difference in range compared to charging LFP to 100%. 

Rather than trying to figure out which chemistry is better, I would ask the simple question to who ever wants to sell a BEV ride to you in the future - does it comply with GB38031-2025? If the answer is no, then look elsewhere as there should be plenty from Made In China (MIC) rides that do. If the answer is "yes", then please provide the type test certificate from an accredited body such as the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) confirming the battery pack complies with GB38031-2025. 

In the event of any changes to the high voltage battery pack (e.g., component/material changes), then targeted retests are required.

 

 

Edited February 23 by steveting99
additional text and typo

[Voodooman]

On 2/23/2026 at 12:38 PM, Rm2s said:

Great effort Steve!

My car has about 2 years of COE left so it's about time for me to learn more about EV in general and its batteries in particular.

I followed a person (on social media) who has worked many years in the car industry in Singapore. His recent recommendation to his friends was to NOT buy EVs using NMC batteries. The reasoning is that NMC has worst protection against thermal runaway. The minimum, based on this person's recommendation is to buy one with LFP. I also noted that he has association with some brands in Singapore having done consultations with them, so his opinion may skewed. Do you have a take on choice of battery chemistry (or its construction) that will sway you from one to the other?

Ref on batteries replacement, I think it will get more and more difficult since manufacturers are now "embed" batteries into car frame for rigidity/protection as well as attempting to get even more space for car interior.

I think this is to cut cost and reduce weight mainly. The Chinese are overwhelming in this camp. 

Even BMW,  currently using modular battery packs in their production EVs, is transitioning to non-modular (CTP) designs. Think only Mercedes, VW /Skoda left. 

But with our mileage and given the 8/10 years warranty, battery replacement may not be a major concern although battery cost will likely continue to drop, so good to have modular packs but not sure if it is necessary in our market.  

[Solar]

On 2/23/2026 at 6:13 PM, Voodooman said:

I think this is to cut cost and reduce weight mainly. The Chinese are overwhelming in this camp. 

Even BMW,  currently using modular battery packs in their production EVs, is transitioning to non-modular (CTP) designs. Think only Mercedes, VW /Skoda left. 

But with our mileage and given the 8/10 years warranty, battery replacement may not be a major concern although battery cost will likely continue to drop, so good to have modular packs but not sure if it is necessary in our market.  

I believe Polestar is sticking to modular. 

If the owner finds the lower than 100% SoH an eyesore and got the money to throw, he can get that module swapped out

[Voodooman]

On 2/23/2026 at 4:04 PM, steveting99 said:

@Rm2s Let me try to answer your question on the battery chemistries by referring to the new battery safety standard issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in April 2025. The new standard is commonly referred to as GB38031-2025 with the title of "Safety Requirements for Power Batteries of Electric Vehicles".

For type approvals on all New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) in China, GB38031-2025 comes into effect on 1-Jul-2026. So not too far from now. All existing NEVs that have been given type approval have a 12-month grace period to comply with this new standard (i.e. by 1-Jul-2027). 

The new GB38031-2025 standard includes 7 single-cell tests and 17 battery pack or system tests. It includes a newly added battery bottom impact test, a safety test after multiple fast charging cycles and a more stringent safety requirement on heat diffusion. Article about is here: https://www.batterytechonline.com/ev-batteries/automakers-face-stricter-ev-battery-standards-in-china It's much harder to pass compared with the older GB38031-2020 version (IEC 62660 in Europe or UN ECE R100-05 for the rest of the world). The older standard has a lower requirement in that the battery not catch fire or explode within 5 minutes after thermal runaway.

GB38031-2025 has a “no fire, no explosion and no smoke to cause harm to occupants.” philosophy. Below is a comparison of new standard vs old standard.

Now to the question of which chemistry is better - LFP or NMC? As NMC has higher energy density compared to LFP, so its lighter and this will have a longer range. But the cycle life of NMC is around half of LFP and the production costs for NMC chemistry is generally higher compared to LFP, see chart below.

Also, most manufacturer's don't recommend NMC to be fully charged to 100% all the time (most limit it to 80%), as it'll accelerate battery cell degradation - while LFP can be fully charged to 100% and this is generally recommended by the Battery Monitoring & Management System. TBH, once the 80% rule is applied to NMC, it's a smaller difference in range compared to charging LFP to 100%. 

Rather than trying to figure out which chemistry is better, I would ask the simple question to who ever wants to sell a BEV ride to you in the future - does it comply with GB38031-2025? If the answer is no, then look elsewhere as there should be plenty from Made In China (MIC) rides that do. If the answer is "yes", then please provide the type test certificate from an accredited body such as the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) confirming the battery pack complies with GB38031-2025. 

In the event of any changes to the high voltage battery pack (e.g., component/material changes), then targeted retests are required.

 

 

Good sharing.  But a rather simplistic way to look at what EV to buy as standards are always evolving. The new Chinese standard announced in early 2025 is, by the way, only effective from July 2026. So anyone that buys a BYD now is also fxxked? 

Europe EV has to comply with UN ECE R100 now and they are tightening the standard in 2027 as well.

This article may interest those who are keen to know more, a quick summary of the new Chinese standard vs EU and US standards.  It is definitely more stringent, which is good. The Chinese are pushing the envelope on this front.

https://www.idtechex.com/en/research-article/new-standards-put-china-in-the-lead-for-the-safest-and-largest-ev-market/33109

EV manufactured outside of China not intended for sales in China won't bother to be certified in China. Me think.

[Voodooman]

On 2/23/2026 at 8:22 PM, Solar said:

I believe Polestar is sticking to modular. 

If the owner finds the lower than 100% SoH an eyesore and got the money to throw, he can get that module swapped out

Scandinavians are keen recyclers, I guess.

[steveting99]

Below is a chart from the International Energy Agency (IEA) on battery share by chemistry at various regions around the world (China, Europe Union, USA and rest of the world) in 2025.

China's battery market has basically been taken over by LFP chemistry. That's the main reason why many BEV rides coming from China into Singapore is dominated by LFP.

Batteries from EU and US of A still have lots of nickel based (I.e. NMC) battery chemistry. However the costs for these nickel based batteries is more expensive, hence contributing to higher OMV costs on conti BEV rides coming into Singapore.  

[Voodooman]

With advances in LFP batteries, which are cheaper, safer, with less degradation over charging cycle and with improved density, why is Vale making a big bet on nickel based NMC batteries?

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/international/asean/indonesian-nickel-giant-vale-digs-deeper-battery-grade-nickel

Indonesian nickel giant Vale digs deeper into battery-grade nickel 

World’s second-largest nickel miner is investing US$9 billion to make EV battery materials even as iron-based packs go mainstream

[Rm2s]

On 2/23/2026 at 4:04 PM, steveting99 said:

@Rm2s Let me try to answer your question on the battery chemistries by referring to the new battery safety standard issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in April 2025. The new standard is commonly referred to as GB38031-2025 with the title of "Safety Requirements for Power Batteries of Electric Vehicles".

For type approvals on all New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) in China, GB38031-2025 comes into effect on 1-Jul-2026. So not too far from now. All existing NEVs that have been given type approval have a 12-month grace period to comply with this new standard (i.e. by 1-Jul-2027). 

The new GB38031-2025 standard includes 7 single-cell tests and 17 battery pack or system tests. It includes a newly added battery bottom impact test, a safety test after multiple fast charging cycles and a more stringent safety requirement on heat diffusion. Article about is here: https://www.batterytechonline.com/ev-batteries/automakers-face-stricter-ev-battery-standards-in-china It's much harder to pass compared with the older GB38031-2020 version (IEC 62660 in Europe or UN ECE R100-05 for the rest of the world). The older standard has a lower requirement in that the battery not catch fire or explode within 5 minutes after thermal runaway.

GB38031-2025 has a “no fire, no explosion and no smoke to cause harm to occupants.” philosophy. Below is a comparison of new standard vs old standard.

Now to the question of which chemistry is better - LFP or NMC? As NMC has higher energy density compared to LFP, so its lighter and this will have a longer range. But the cycle life of NMC is around half of LFP and the production costs for NMC chemistry is generally higher compared to LFP, see chart below.

Also, most manufacturer's don't recommend NMC to be fully charged to 100% all the time (most limit it to 80%), as it'll accelerate battery cell degradation - while LFP can be fully charged to 100% and this is generally recommended by the Battery Monitoring & Management System. TBH, once the 80% rule is applied to NMC, it's a smaller difference in range compared to charging LFP to 100%. 

Rather than trying to figure out which chemistry is better, I would ask the simple question to who ever wants to sell a BEV ride to you in the future - does it comply with GB38031-2025? If the answer is no, then look elsewhere as there should be plenty from Made In China (MIC) rides that do. If the answer is "yes", then please provide the type test certificate from an accredited body such as the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) confirming the battery pack complies with GB38031-2025. 

In the event of any changes to the high voltage battery pack (e.g., component/material changes), then targeted retests are required.

 

 

Thanks for the detailed information.

Two things came to mind after reading;

1. The new GB38031-2025 standard mandates 120 minutes of no fire/explosion after a thermal event, isn't it more dangerous since the driver may think nothing happened, so happily drive away only to cause more harm later having parked in say an underground carpark?

2. Our dear LTA uses what standard to homologate new cars especially EVs? I tried to look this up from their website, the common info is "comply with stipulated standards"

 

[Rm2s]

On 2/23/2026 at 6:13 PM, Voodooman said:

I think this is to cut cost and reduce weight mainly. The Chinese are overwhelming in this camp. 

Even BMW,  currently using modular battery packs in their production EVs, is transitioning to non-modular (CTP) designs. Think only Mercedes, VW /Skoda left. 

But with our mileage and given the 8/10 years warranty, battery replacement may not be a major concern although battery cost will likely continue to drop, so good to have modular packs but not sure if it is necessary in our market.  

Thanks! For me, I'd prefer modular packs also to give ourselves an option to extend COE and if available, swap out the battery to newer ones (perhaps solid-state by then).

[steveting99]

@Voodooman Couldn't get through the pay wall, but think Vale taking a huge gamble in trying to go upscale on their nickel mining / processing facilities within Indonesia and predicting that nickel based batteries demand will grow substantially in the future.

When it comes to investment in battery production - China leads by a country mile. See chart below from the Visual Capitalist:

The issue is that China is moving towards LFP chemistry (mainly due to cost advantage with economies of scale) and they are the 800lb gorilla when it comes to battery production as well as supply chain management globally. According to IEA, China produced over 80% of all batteries in 2025.  LFP cells accounted for 625.3 GWh, or 81.2 per cent of China’s total EV battery market while NMC batteries made up just 144.1 GWh, equivalent to 18.7 per cent of the market. In the world's largest EV market, China's demand for nickel based cells grew just 3.7% in 2025, surprisingly low compared to LFP. Electrive article about it is here: https://www.electrive.com/2026/01/19/chinas-ev-battery-market-grows-by-40-percent/#:~:text=As charts from the portal,this growth: CATL and BYD.

What Vale and the Indonesians are fighting against is the huge economies of scale that China has. See IEA chart below on the cost of battery pack price :

In 2025, LFP battery prices fell by more than 15%, compared with less than 5% for lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NMC) batteries. This made LFP batteries on average more than 40% cheaper than NMC alternatives. IEA article about it is here: https://www.iea.org/commentaries/global-battery-markets-are-growing-strongly-and-so-are-the-supply-risks

[steveting99]

On 2/24/2026 at 4:37 PM, Rm2s said:

Thanks for the detailed information.

Two things came to mind after reading;

1. The new GB38031-2025 standard mandates 120 minutes of no fire/explosion after a thermal event, isn't it more dangerous since the driver may think nothing happened, so happily drive away only to cause more harm later having parked in say an underground carpark?

2. Our dear LTA uses what standard to homologate new cars especially EVs? I tried to look this up from their website, the common info is "comply with stipulated standards"

 

1. In the event the vehicle experiences a severe collision, the 120 minutes is to provide sufficient buffer time for first responders. This will allow first responders to extract individuals who are injured/unconscious from within the vehicle before thermal runaway occurs in the high voltage battery pack.  

2. Believe LTA allows compliance to the lower UN ECE R100-05 standard and thus permit conti, Korean and Japanese BEVs to be sold in Singapore.