BYD's first solid-state car is coming. Just not to you

BYD says it will put a car with solid-state batteries on the road next year. Stella Li, the Chinese carmaker's executive vice president, told the Spanish site Carwow.es this month that BYD will show "one model" with the technology in 2027, and last week reports pointed to the likely candidate: an ultra-luxury saloon from its Yangwang brand, expected to cost more than 2 million yuan in China.

You can name any battery technology, and I will guarantee you will find it in one corner of BYD R&D that we are studying.
— Stella Li, executive vice president, BYD

One car, a thousand test vehicles, mass production by 2030

Solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte in today's lithium-ion cells with a solid one. The promise is more energy in the same space, faster charging and less risk of fire. Carmakers have been promising them for a long time, and timelines have a habit of slipping.

BYD's version is more specific than most. According to CarNewsChina and TheStreet, its battery division, FinDreams, has prototype sulfide-based cells approaching 400 watt-hours per kilogram. The plan is a small trial batch of around 1,000 vehicles around 2027, with large-scale production targeted for about 2030.

Li was careful about what she was and wasn't promising. CarNewsChina says she described it as a technology demonstration, not a retail launch or a mass-production commitment, and gave no car name, date or performance figures. Her words were: "So to prove that, even next year we will have one model that will be the first model with this technology there."

A China-market flagship with coach doors

Electrek reported on 23 September that the first solid-state BYD may be a Yangwang flagship saloon, internally called "HU", with rear-hinged coach doors, four motors and more than 1,000 horsepower. Its estimated price in China is over 2 million yuan, roughly $300,000. That's China-only pricing, and there's no word of a UK version.

That's the part worth underlining. The first solid-state BYD is not a Dolphin you can lease for a couple of hundred pounds a month. It's a halo car for very rich customers in China, made in batches small enough that nobody has to worry much about cost per cell.

What it means if you're buying a BYD in the UK

BYD is now a big name in Britain. It passed 100,000 UK registrations in July, three years after it started selling here, and has grown to 143 retail sites. Every car it sells here uses conventional liquid-electrolyte batteries, and that won't change soon.

BYD's own chief scientist, Lian Yubo, has said, according to TheStreet, that "liquid lithium-ion and all-solid-state systems could coexist for 15 to 20 years." That's a useful reality check for anyone tempted to delay buying an EV until solid-state arrives.

Here's Ada's take. The more immediate BYD tech for UK drivers is charging, not chemistry. Its 1,500kW Flash Charging, which BYD says can take a compatible car from 10% to 97% in about nine minutes, was demonstrated at its UK headquarters in June, with a plan for 300 chargers here. That's a race Geely has since joined with its own 4.5-minute charging claim. Fast charging on today's batteries could change how people use EVs well before solid-state reaches a family car.

To be fair to BYD

BYD makes its own batteries at enormous scale, which few rivals can say, so its claims carry more weight than a start-up's press release. It's also not alone in this timeline. Electrek lists Geely, Changan, CATL, Toyota, Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz among those also aiming at 2027. BYD putting a date and a trial volume on it, rather than just a slide, is more than many have managed.

Starting with an expensive, low-volume flagship is also how new car technology usually arrives. Expensive tech tends to start at the top of the range and move down as costs fall. If BYD follows that pattern, the real question is how long the trickle-down takes, and on current evidence the answer is years, not months.

Mind the hype. The best battery for your next car is probably the one that's already in the showroom.

Sources: CarNewsChina, Electrek (14 September), Electrek (23 September), TheStreet, SlashGear, BYD UK, Auto Express