Why this roadmap stops at 2028, not 2040
A battery chemistry is the mix of materials inside a cell that sets its cost, its safety and how much energy it holds. This article checked 5 sources across 5 chemistries used in vehicles today or still being tested, for the furthest dated commitment any source names. The latest one found anywhere is 2028, the year Toyota Motor Corporation and Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd say they are aiming for an electric vehicle carrying a solid state battery, a cell built with a solid material instead of the liquid that carries charge inside every other chemistry here. Nothing in these 5 sources names a date for any chemistry after that, all the way through 2040.
Bar lengths are years after 2020, used only to draw this chart to scale, not a figure any source states. Lithium iron phosphate reads source 4 for the 2023 start and source 2 for the 2026 storage line at Spring Hill. Sodium ion reads source 4 for the 2021 launch and source 3 for the 2026 truck delivery. Solid state reads source 1 for both years. Lithium sulfur reads source 5. High nickel reads source 2. Lithium sulfur and high nickel are drawn as a single point because only 1 dated year was found for each in these 5 sources.
Show the numbers
| Lithium iron phosphate | 2023 to 2026, already in production |
| Sodium ion | 2021 to 2026, already in production |
| Solid state | 2024 to 2028, committed, not yet shipped |
| Lithium sulfur | 2026 only, delivered for testing |
| High nickel | 2026 confirmed, no dated start found |
Two chemistries are already on the road
Lithium iron phosphate needs no cobalt or nickel and reached a real vehicle first. CATL launched Shenxing, its own fast charging lithium iron phosphate cell, on 16 August 2023. General Motors started a second lithium iron phosphate line at its plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee in June 2026, though those cells go into batteries that store power for the electricity grid, not into cars.
Sodium ion batteries use sodium instead of lithium, a material far more common and cheaper to source, and launched even earlier. CATL held a launch event for its own sodium ion cell on 29 July 2021. In July 2026 a mining company in China took delivery of a dump truck built on a sodium ion battery pack holding 676 kilowatt hours, more than 165 watt hours of energy for every kilogram it weighs. A second sodium ion truck finished a 15,000 kilometre road test at temperatures down to negative 40 degrees, keeping more than 90% of its usable capacity. Launch to a delivered heavy vehicle is a run of 5 years, this publication own count, the widest confirmed span of any chemistry here.
Each value is this publication own subtraction of the earliest sourced date from the latest sourced date for that chemistry, not a figure any source states directly. Lithium iron phosphate runs source 4 for 2023 and source 2 for 2026. Sodium ion runs source 4 for 2021 and source 3 for 2026. Solid state runs source 1 for both 2024 and 2028. Lithium sulfur and high nickel are left off this chart because each has only 1 dated year, so no span exists to measure.
Show the numbers
| Lithium iron phosphate | 3 |
| Sodium ion | 5 |
| Solid state | 4 |
One is only committed, one is only being tested
Solid state batteries are the only chemistry with a dated commitment past 2026. Toyota Motor Corporation and Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd, partners since October 2023, are aiming for an electric vehicle carrying a solid state battery in 2027 to 2028. Idemitsu own pilot plant for solid electrolyte, the material a solid state cell needs instead of the liquid inside every other battery here, began basic design in October 2024 and targets completion in 2027. No source checked here states that a solid state cell has yet been built into a car for sale.
Lithium sulfur cells are the earliest stage chemistry checked here. Li S Energy Limited shipped its first cells to the United States Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center on 24 August 2026, for evaluation, not for sale, after clearing 3 separate air transport approvals. No future date for production or sale appears anywhere in that statement.
Shipping our cells to US Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center for independent evaluation is a major step forward in the Company's commercialisation pathway.
Lee Finniear, managing director of Li S Energy Limited. Source 5.
The chemistry under the most cars has no start date at all
High nickel batteries pack in more nickel to hold more energy and already run under most electric cars sold today, including General Motors current lineup as of 12 June 2026. None of the 5 sources checked here name the date that chemistry started. The chemistry running under the most cars on the road is the one this roadmap can date least.
5 sources across 5 chemistries reach forward only to 2028. A reader looking for a dated battery roadmap running to 2040 will not find one, not here and not in any of the 5 sources checked for this article.