China FAW Group has installed what it calls an industry-first semi-solid electric vehicle battery, promising more than 1,000 kilometers of driving on a single charge. The state-owned automaker is using a lithium-rich manganese design with both solid and liquid electrolyte, and reports energy density above 500 Wh/kg, a level that would have seemed unrealistic a decade ago. Rather than a one-off stunt, the move looks like a sign that the global race to reinvent the EV battery is entering a new phase.
The headline range figure, roughly 620 miles, is only part of the story. Behind it is a broader push by Chinese carmakers and tech firms to lock in leadership on solid and semi-solid batteries, from Dongfeng Automobile’s cold-resistant cells to Huawei’s patent work. The key question now is not whether these batteries work in the lab, but how quickly they can be standardized, mass-produced and trusted by everyday drivers who care about safety, cost and charging time.
What FAW’s “industry first” actually is
FAW Group says it has installed a semi-solid-state battery pack in a production-intent vehicle, pairing a lithium-rich manganese chemistry with a mix of solid and liquid electrolyte. According to the company, the pack can support more than 1,000 km of range under standard test conditions, while a real-world target of about 620 miles is highlighted in coverage of the FAW installation. That combination of long range and semi-solid design is what lets FAW describe the system as an “industry first,” even in a field crowded with bold battery claims.
The main technical hook is energy density. FAW’s lithium-rich manganese solid-liquid unit is reported to exceed 500 Wh/kg, far above many lithium-ion packs on the road today and a big reason the company can target such long range from a single charge. The pack also has higher energy density than FAW’s earlier chemistries and uses more nickel, a shift that usually helps store more energy in the same space at the cost of higher materials complexity, according to FAW’s technical description. Moving beyond 500 Wh/kg is important because analysts often treat 350–400 Wh/kg as a rough ceiling for today’s mainstream EV packs.
China’s solid and semi-solid battery sprint
FAW is not working alone. Another member of China’s “Big Four” automakers has begun testing solid-state batteries with about 620 miles of range, giving a pure solid-state counterpoint to FAW’s semi-solid approach and showing that long-range prototypes are now a shared target rather than a single-company boast. Reporting on this project notes that the rival pack aims for around 3982 charging cycles before dropping to 80% capacity, a figure that, if confirmed, would be well above the 1,000–2,000 cycles often cited for current lithium-ion packs, according to coverage of the.
Dongfeng Automobile has gone a step further by dispatching a 620-mile solid-state EV battery that is built to cope with harsh winters. In testing, that pack retained 72% of its capacity at -22°F, directly addressing one of the biggest complaints about current EVs in cold climates. The same testing program reports that the battery kept more than 81% of its rated range at -4°F, suggesting that cold-weather loss can be cut sharply when compared with many existing EVs, as described in winter performance data. These results help explain why global rivals are watching Chinese trials so closely.
Standardizing what “solid-state” means
Behind the flashy prototypes sits a quieter but important move: China is preparing a national solid-state EV battery standard that is due in 2026. According to FAW, the draft standard will sort batteries into clear categories, including liquid, hybrid, semi-solid and solid, and will tie those labels to measurable performance and design criteria such as energy density, cycle life and safety tests. It may sound bureaucratic, but this is exactly the kind of rulebook that can turn lab hardware into bankable products that investors, insurers and regulators can compare.
FAW has also linked its cell development to the Factorial Electrolyte System Technology platform, which points to a push for shared technical baselines rather than each automaker inventing its own language for similar ideas. The pending standard, outlined in a report on China’s, should also reduce the risk of marketing spin where “solid-state” labels get attached to any pack with a slightly tweaked electrolyte. Clear labels matter because drivers and fleet buyers need to know whether they are getting a full solid-state system or a hybrid design like FAW’s semi-solid pack.
Proof from the road, and its limits
For drivers, the obvious question is whether any of these packs can deliver their claimed range outside a test cycle. There is at least one high-profile example that suggests long-range Chinese batteries can perform on real roads. In 2023, a Nio ET7 sedan fitted with a 150 kWh pack covered 1,044 km, or about 649 miles, in a real-world endurance run that lasted 14 hours and 2 minutes, according to detailed test coverage. The car finished the drive with 3% charge left, which implies that even more distance might have been possible under similar conditions.
That Nio run also shows the limits of using single events as proof. The car followed a specific route, in moderate weather, with a driver who knew the goal was to maximize distance, and it relied on a very large 150 kWh pack rather than the smaller batteries found in mass-market models. FAW’s semi-solid pack and Dongfeng’s 620-mile solid-state unit will face the same scrutiny. Until independent fleets log thousands of charge cycles, crash tests are complete and insurance data is available, these technologies should be seen as promising but not yet fully proven for mainstream buyers who expect consistent performance over many years.
Industrial momentum and public reaction
Behind FAW’s latest announcement sits a longer technical journey. Earlier work showed how the company integrated a lithium-rich manganese solid-liquid battery into a vehicle and pushed energy density beyond 500 Wh/kg, laying the foundation for today’s 620-mile claims. That milestone, described in an industry report, shows that FAW has been refining this chemistry for several years rather than conjuring it overnight. The company’s roadmap now points to further gains in energy density and safety as it prepares for wider deployment.
Public interest is starting to follow, even if the conversation is still niche. A social post highlighting Chinese automakers’ push on solid-state batteries and FAW’s 500 Wh/kg milestone drew 61 reactions, 11 comments and 4 shares, according to engagement figures. Those are small numbers in social-media terms, but they hint at a growing subculture of EV watchers who track battery chemistry with the same intensity others reserve for horsepower or 0–60 times. As more test results and safety data appear, that audience is likely to grow.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
