According to a report by GACO Auto, the global automotive solid-state battery market is expected to reach $1.186 billion in 2026, a surge of 75.78% compared to 2025. Despite this rapid growth, this promising sector remains in a critical transitional phase of early commercialization.
Data shows that planned global solid-state battery production capacity has exceeded 400 GWh in 2026; however, the actual commercialized capacity will account for less than 5%. Industry analysts generally believe that 2026 will still be a period of technology verification and commercialization trials for solid-state batteries. Mass production and market explosion are expected to begin in 2027, at which time the industry’s annual growth rate is expected to exceed 80%, and solid-state batteries will gradually move from product verification to mass production, becoming a core driving force for the upgrading of the electric vehicle industry.
“This is a year full of contradictions—a mix of frenzied capacity planning and cautious commercialization, with massive investments and technological breakthroughs proceeding in parallel,” said an industry insider. Major global players are accelerating their deployments, attempting to gain a competitive edge in this race that will determine the future of electric vehicles.
As a global leader in solid-state batteries, WELION has established industrial bases in four major regions of China, currently boasting an annual capacity of 28.2 GWh, with a planned total capacity exceeding 100 GWh. Its 2 GWh Beijing base is expected to officially commence production in 2027, further expanding its capacity advantage. To promote technology commercialization, WELION has partnered with major domestic automakers such as NIO, JAC, and Geely, focusing on promoting its hybrid solid-state battery products. To date, the company has raised over $450 million in funding, providing strong support for its technology research and development and capacity expansion.
Qingtao Energy, on the other hand, is seizing market share with a broader capacity layout. Its five production bases in China each have a different focus, forming differentiated functions and market positioning, with a total planned capacity of 65 GWh. In terms of cooperation, Qingtao Energy has partnered with automotive brands such as MG, Zhiji, and Foton to accelerate the application of solid-state batteries in various vehicle models.
On the capital front, Qingtao Energy has raised over $800 million in total funding, with SAIC Motor as its largest industrial investor, providing crucial support for its technology R&D and capacity expansion, highlighting the industry trend of deep integration between automakers and battery companies.
Farasis has achieved a breakthrough in the semi-solid-state battery field. Its semi-solid-state battery products have gained recognition from domestic automakers such as GAC, Dongfeng, Sany, and FAW Jiefang, as well as US eVTOL customers and Chinese flying car customers, and have officially begun mass production. Farasis stated that its current semi-solid-state battery shipments have reached the GWh level, accumulating valuable commercialization experience for the transition from semi-solid-state batteries to all-solid-state batteries.
European and American companies, on the other hand, focus on technological cooperation and business model innovation as their core breakthroughs. Financial data from Solid Power, a US company, shows that its full-year revenue in 2025 was approximately $21.7 million, while facing an operating loss of $100.8 million, reflecting the high investment and high risk of solid-state battery technology R&D. However, the company has signed a tripartite cooperation agreement with Samsung SDI and BMW, forming a clearly defined technology advancement system: Solid Power provides sulfide-based electrolyte materials, Samsung SDI is responsible for battery integration, and BMW focuses on vehicle verification.
Currently, the world’s first BMW i7 test vehicle equipped with an all-solid-state battery has begun road testing in Munich. The large-size all-solid-state cells used are supplied by Solid Power, marking that the all-solid-state battery technology of European and American companies has entered the real-vehicle verification stage.
Another American company, Factorial, is accelerating its commercialization process through capital operations. The company has established partnerships with Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis, and recently announced a business merger agreement with special acquisition company Cartesian III. After the merger, it will be listed on Nasdaq, leveraging the power of the capital market to expand its technology research and development and production capacity.
As a partner, Stellantis plans to launch a new “Dodge Charger Daytona” demonstration fleet in 2026, with all vehicles equipped with Factorial’s solid-state batteries, becoming an important pilot for European and American automakers to promote solid-state battery technology.
The collaboration between Volkswagen Group’s PowerCo and QuantumScape showcases another commercialization path. The two companies reached a groundbreaking agreement to industrialize QuantumScape’s next-generation solid-state lithium metal battery technology. In July 2025, PowerCo invested $131 million in QuantumScape to support its pilot solid-state battery production line in San Jose, California. Notably, QuantumScape has announced it will abandon solid-state battery manufacturing, focusing instead on technology research and development and licensing its technology patents to other manufacturers. This “technology licensing + contract manufacturing” model is expected to accelerate the large-scale application of solid-state battery technology. In the future, PowerCo’s solid-state batteries will be used in vehicles from multiple Volkswagen Group brands.
CATL, a Chinese battery giant, is at the forefront of technology industrialization. In May 2025, CATL’s world’s first 5GWh all-solid-state battery production line in Anhui Province officially went into operation. This milestone marks the formal transition of sulfide solid-state battery technology from the laboratory to the industrialization stage. According to its plan, CATL will achieve mass production of all-solid-state batteries by 2027, with a capacity target of 20GWh. It also plans to increase battery energy density to over 500Wh/kg, significantly improving the range and safety of electric vehicles.
As a leading domestic electric vehicle company, BYD is also accelerating the application of solid-state batteries. It is understood that the BYD Seal model will be the first vehicle equipped with solid-state batteries, expected to be officially launched in 2027, with other models gradually adopting solid-state batteries from 2028 onwards. BYD stated that it plans to launch mass demonstration applications of all-solid-state batteries in 2027 and strive to achieve large-scale application of solid-state batteries in vehicles by 2030, completing the industrial upgrade from traditional lithium batteries to solid-state batteries.
Besides industry giants, smaller players are also seeking breakthroughs in the technological field. TALENT and Changan Automobile jointly announced that they have successfully developed membrane-free solid-state lithium battery technology. This technological breakthrough is expected to simplify the solid-state battery production process, reduce manufacturing costs, and provide a new technological path for industry development.
From the mass production of semi-solid-state batteries to the real-vehicle verification of all-solid-state batteries, the global automotive solid-state battery market is undergoing an unprecedented period of transformation in 2026. Although commercialization still faces multiple challenges such as technological maturity and cost control, with the continued investment and technological breakthroughs of major companies, solid-state batteries are expected to reshape the global electric vehicle industry landscape in the coming years.
