Chery targets 2027 vehicle validation for its 400 Wh/kg all-solid-state battery

Chery Auto has laid out a concrete timeline for getting solid-state batteries into real cars, telling industry executives in Sichuan this week that it plans to start vehicle validation of an all-solid-state cell in 2027. The Chinese automaker's chairman Yin Tongyue unveiled the roadmap on Thursday at the 2026 World Power Battery Conference in Yibin, according to a report by China's National Business Daily.

CnEVPost was first to carry the remarks in detail, and the same facts were picked up by Chinese outlets reporting from the floor of the Yibin conference.

The plan gives Chery's Rhino Battery family a near-term step and a longer one. The transitional solid-liquid hybrid version is scheduled to be installed in vehicles in the fourth quarter of this year. The all-solid-state battery then enters vehicle validation in 2027. The sequencing matches the roadmap Chery published back in March, which already signaled that semi-solid chemistry would reach customers before the full solid-state version.

Chery's Rhino lineup splits into three series, one each for hybrids, battery electric vehicles, and solid-state applications. The company says its solid-state cells have reached an energy density of 400 Wh/kg. The earlier Rhino S series, unveiled in March, included a 60 amp-hour solid-state cell at that same 400 Wh/kg figure. That cell uses a sulfide-based solid electrolyte paired with a high-nickel ternary cathode, one of the main routes Chery is pursuing toward commercial solid-state batteries.

What the energy density number actually means

The 400 Wh/kg figure is worth putting in context. Typical lithium iron phosphate cells found in budget EVs sit around 160 to 200 Wh/kg at the pack level, while high-nickel ternary chemistries commonly reach the low 200s. A solid-state cell at 400 Wh/kg would roughly double the energy stored per kilogram of cell, which translates directly into longer range and lighter vehicles. That is why the number has become a talking point across the sector, even though the material is nowhere near mass production yet.

Chery's claim is not isolated. CATL, BYD, Gotion High-tech, CALB, and Eve Energy are all pushing solid-state programs, and several automakers have floated the same 2027 window for putting the chemistry in at least small volumes of vehicles. The density race matters because whoever certifies a solid-state cell at meaningful scale first gets a head start on the next cycle of EV range and cost.

The other number to watch is the 600 Wh/kg polymer-based cell Chery showed in March. The company said that design could support a vehicle range of more than 1,500 kilometers. That figure stays firmly in the lab for now, but it sets the ceiling of what the solid-state route might eventually deliver in production cars, and it gives Chery a story to tell investors about headroom beyond the 400 Wh/kg sulfide cell.

Why the industry is shipping semi-solid first

Solid-state has been a running promise for years, and the production dates keep sliding. Chery's choice to put the solid-liquid hybrid version into cars first is a straight admission that the fully solid design is not ready for the assembly line. Yin framed 2027 as the vehicle-validation window rather than a mass-production date, and that distinction is telling.

The obstacles are well documented. Solid electrolytes remain expensive to scale. Cells struggle to hold consistent performance across long production runs. And the defect-free manufacturing yield for solid-state stacks has lagged what conventional lithium chemistry achieves, which pushes up costs and slows volume ramps. Those are the reasons the industry talks about semi-solid as the bridge technology.

CATL chairman Robin Zeng provided the bluntest framing in June. On a scale where level 9 means ready for mass production, he suggested current solid-state progress is only around level 4. The remark is a useful reality check for anyone tempted to treat a 400 Wh/kg display cell as a product that is one factory away.

An industry converging on the same 2027 window

Chery is one of several players circling 2027. CATL and BYD are both targeting that year for small-volume deployment of all-solid-state batteries in vehicles. Geely Auto said in January that it planned to finish its first in-house developed all-solid-state pack in 2026 and then run vehicle validation. Dongfeng Motor wants to deliver 50,000 vehicles equipped with its own solid-state batteries in 2027.

The converging timetables give the supply chain a shared target even when the chemistry and the suppliers differ. Automakers are also hedging: several said this year that no technology would reach their vehicles until it clears safety checks. Yin echoed that, describing the Rhino Battery's "360-degree safety protection system" and listing the required tests — high temperatures, extreme cold, crashes, underbody scraping, and water immersion.

The semi-solid path is broad, not just Chery's. Xpeng, another Chinese player, took a similar practical turn this week when it reportedly decided to use high-energy solid-liquid hybrid batteries in its Iron humanoid robot because all-solid-state development had not kept pace with its production schedule. The parallel shows how widely the industry now treats semi-solid as the realistic near-term answer while the fully solid chemistry waits on manufacturing breakthroughs.

What the timeline says about the EV market

The timing is not incidental. Chinese automakers are leaning harder on technology differentiation as competition in the domestic EV market stays fierce. A solid-state cell that boosts range and trims charging anxiety would be a selling point, but only if it can be produced at volume for a price buyers accept. Announcing a roadmap is easy; certifying and manufacturing the cell is the hard part.

Yin used the conference to sketch Chery's wider position too. He said green electricity accounts for more than 52 percent of the power used at Chery's manufacturing bases in China, and that carbon-footprint accounting now covers all of the company's models currently on sale. He also expects China's automobile exports to exceed 10 million vehicles in 2026, with new energy vehicles making up over half of that total.

He cautioned that Chinese automakers expanding abroad should not fixate on short-term sales, arguing the focus should be localized operations and industrial cooperation instead. The comment lands as European regulators weigh tariffs on Chinese EV imports, disputes that in themselves have reshaped how quickly Chinese brands can grow overseas market share and how much of their production they localize inside the regions they sell into.

The testable next step: semi-solid in Q4

For customers, the more immediate development is the solid-liquid hybrid Rhino Battery arriving in cars later this year. Semi-solid cells keep part of the conventional liquid electrolyte while introducing solid components, a middle path that lifts energy density and safety margins without the full manufacturing difficulty of a solid design. If Chery hits the Q4 target, it will have a battery story to sell while the higher-density program stays on the bench.

The World Power Battery Conference runs through September 4 in Yibin. Chery's announcement puts it explicitly in the group of automakers aiming at the same 2027 commercialization window, and the next checkable milestone is whether the Q4 semi-solid battery actually makes it into dealership cars on schedule.

The broader lesson matches what CATL's Zeng has been saying all year: solid-state is coming, but it arrives in stages, and the companies that manage the transition honestly — selling semi-solid today while validating all-solid tomorrow — are best positioned as the chemistry finally matures.

(Coverage draws on CnEVPost's report of the conference remarks, cross-referenced with National Business Daily. For more on solid-state battery programs across automakers, see the Battery Tech section and the main EV category.)