Cupra targets solid-state batteries, roof-mounted solar cells

Cupra says it will look to bring roof-mounted solar panels and solid-state batteries to the Australian market as early as 2030 – just as it completes its phasing out of combustion engines.

In a briefing with media this week, Cupra’s global vice-president of research and design, Werner Tietz, forecasted significant development of battery and recharging technology in the coming decade that will ultimately make EVs easier to live with.

Tietz expects incremental development of current battery technology in the interim, with solid-state batteries to deliver faster charging times and less weight – to the order of about 70kg compared with existing lithium-ion technology.

“The solid-state battery, it’s a little bit difficult to make a prognosis but I think we will see, I think in the seven, eight years, we will see the next step in battery technology. The big step, to solid-state,” Dr Tietz said.

“In the meantime, you will see an increase in performance of the batteries by 10 per cent per year, I would say. But the big step will be the solid-state battery. Seven, eight, years from now.

“Charging speed will increase as well, so you can charge your battery for the car in 10 or 15 minutes.”

The Volkswagen Group is one of the leading car-makers in the development of solid-state batteries, although predictions of a 2024 mass-market rollout have blown out by several years.

Solid-state batteries effectively utilise the same lithium-ion chemical reaction through an anode and cathode to store and discharge electricity, but replace the electrolytic solvents with a wafer-thin electrolyte, usually made from either a ceramic compound, polymers or glass.

In essence, they have a higher-density energy storage, which translates to lighter, smaller and faster-charging battery packs.

“To oversize the batteries, in my opinion, makes no sense,” said Dr Tietz.

“If you have a range [of] 500-600km, and you can have a charging infrastructure and you can fast-charge, I think you are covered – and with solid-state you can. I would use solid-state to be honest, not to increase the range but to reduce the weight, to have a more [higher] performing car.”

Solid-state aside, the other emerging technology for Cupra is roof-mounted solar cells. Already in use in some markets by the likes of Hyundai, the cells work in the same way as household solar panels to capture energy from the sun and provide additional power for the vehicle.

Dr Tietz expects the next-gen solar cell technology to be fitted to Cupra models in the Australian market within “10 or 15 years” – effectively allowing owners to extend their vehicle range by 50-60km each day.

“The solar cells are developing quite fast. You have thin foils and the question is do you have to put them on a kind of carrier which adds weight or you can integrate them in the surface of the car? This is what researchers is working on,” Tietz said.

“Currently what you see on the cars, solar roofs [offer about] maybe 8km or 10km of range per day. This is what you can do with current technology, but if you look at the development on the solar cells, if you look at the technology development on the battery, on the energy consumption of the car, I think we will see 50km in 10 to 15 years.”

Like most European marques, Cupra has adopted a hard-line stance on its combustion engine line-up, pledging to phase out the technology altogether by 2030.

Dr Tietz said Cupra would make one evolutionary “emissions step” on its combustion engines before then, resulting in a slight performance increase and an improvement in gearbox behaviour – “all within the frame of the normal development”.

Tietz noted that not all markets would be ready to make the switch to EV at the same time as Europe, therefore making e-fuels a critical power source as well.

“This is why I think e-fuel makes sense: you have how many cars on earth, 120 million or something?” he said.

“Until you have transformed all these cars to electric cars that will last another 50 years, then what do you do with all these cars? They have to run, we have to bridge the time.

“Therefore, I also think we need e-fuel otherwise we are consuming resources which we don’t have.”

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