(Yicai) Jan. 24 -- Solid-state batteries will need at least another 20 years to be widely used, even though global suppliers are stepping up efforts to develop such technology, according to an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“It will take no less than 20 to 30 years for solid-state batteries to seize 50 percent of the market,” Ouyang Minggao, who is also a professor at Tsinghua University, said at the China All-Solid-State Battery Innovation and Development Summit Forum on Jan. 22.

Compared with commonly used liquid-state batteries like lithium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries have a longer driving range, faster charging speed, and higher safety performance.

Solid-state batteries are one of the preferred solutions for the next generation of batteries and the key to the future’s technological competition, but they will need time to replace liquid-state batteries, Ouyang noted.

However, Ouyang warned that Chinese battery makers should be aware of and prepare for the fact that the introduction of solid-state batteries will bring subversive changes to the industry.

Once solid-state batteries achieve a 1 percent market share, they would already have groundbreaking technologies, Ouyang said, adding that artificial intelligence is greatly accelerating the research and development of solid-state batteries.

The global supply of lithium-ion batteries will jump to 2,943 gigawatt-hours by 2030 from 687 GWh last year, achieving a market share of 95 percent, according to data from South Korean market research firm SNE Research. Meanwhile, the global supply of solid-state batteries will increase to 131 GWh in 2030 from 0.2 GWh in 2025 to achieve a market share of about 4 percent.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione