- SK On says solid-state cells may give industrial robots the 8+ hour runtime of a human shift, however adoption is likely to be one other story
- Whereas upcoming solid-state batteries increase productiveness via longer working instances and decrease total working prices, they’re prohibitively dearer than a few of their lithium-ion friends
- Trendy Li-on-based batteries are underneath 2% of a robotic’s manufacturing price right this moment, and solid-state would push that share to round 8%, a premium that might include severe tradeoffs for producers
Trendy robotics is a subject that continues to develop over time, fueled by a mixture of smarter AI, manufacturing efficiencies and at instances, higher supplies that change what is feasible on the bottom.
The robots at the moment in use in factories and warehouses nevertheless have a key limitation that has but to be addressed correctly: Lithium-ion batteries usually can’t sustain with the facility demand that trendy robots have.
That is notably mirrored in how usually they require a battery swap or a recharge: most lithium-ion-powered robots usually function for one to 2 hours on a cost, a far cry from the trade’s ambitions of machines that may work a full eight-hour shift.
A expensive answer to a robotic’s present battery limits
Talking on the 2nd Battery Foundry Discussion board in Seoul on July 15 2026, Ko Younger-seok, the chief vice chairman and head of product planning on the Korean battery maker SK On, argued that solid-state cells can ship significant worth for industrial robots that want prolonged runtime.
He additionally defined that whether or not producers truly undertake them will come right down to complete price of possession (TCO), weighed towards two cheaper rival approaches: battery swapping and ultra-fast charging.
The TCO framing implies that solid-state batteries, the battery trade’s most hyped next-generation expertise and inherently costly in addition, would possibly appeal to industrial patrons just because the mathematics works of their favor relative to standard Li-ion setups.
It is because one should think about the price of preserving spare battery packs, charging and/or swap instances, and doubtlessly extra robots to cowl the ensuing downtime, which may depart solid-state with a decrease TCO than the competitors regardless of the upper sticker value.
The framing may additionally be unavoidable given how batteries sit in a robotic’s invoice of supplies right this moment. A Li-ion battery accounts for underneath 2% of the overall price of an industrial robotic, in accordance with SK On, primarily a rounding error within the grand scheme of issues, however switching to a solid-state battery may push that share to round 8%, a big bounce in total prices.
For context, a broadly circulated teardown of Tesla’s Optimus Gen 2 places the battery pack at about $300 in a roughly $55,000 {hardware} price construction, round 0.5% of the invoice of supplies, comfortably underneath 2%, although models with bigger packs or decrease total prices would land increased, and a few impartial estimates, together with McKinsey’s, put battery modules at 5–10% of a humanoid’s invoice of supplies.
Strong-state cells, with their increased vitality density, are one of the promising routes to a robotic that works a human shift with out stopping, however given their comparatively steep price versus the competitors, one can perceive why SK On is aiming this pitch on the robotics and industrial gamers that want the expertise and may afford to pay for it.
For functions with quick responsibility cycles, swapping an inexpensive lithium-ion pack or fast-charging between duties could merely stay the higher financial reply, however for patrons prepared and in a position to pay for extra sustained energy, solid-state appears to be the brand new play, even as it remains elusive for industrial EVs given its price.
SK On has pores and skin on this recreation on a selected timeline. The corporate accomplished its all-solid-state pilot plant at its Future Know-how Institute in Daejeon final September, inbuilt partnership with US solid-electrolyte agency Strong Energy.
It’s creating two chemistries: a polymer-oxide composite cell focused for commercialization in 2028 and a sulfide-based cell in 2029, a timeline it has already accelerated by a yr. Nevertheless it has competitors ready within the wings: rival Samsung SDI, working with the identical American companion, is aiming for 2027.
Whether or not this results in widespread adoption of tech anticipated to look only in the most expensive EVs in the marketplace this decade stays to be seen, however the TCO argument Ko makes would possibly stick extra simply with industrial prospects than with shopper EV patrons, for whom pricing and budgets are key components.
Through The ELEC
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