Solid-state batteries remain several stages away from commercial production despite growing industry enthusiasm, Robin Zeng, founder and chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL), the world's largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer, said at the 2026 Summer Davos( World Economic Forum's 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions).

He added that China's new energy industry still needs more innovation to support its next phase of growth.

Speaking at the forum, Zeng said solid-state batteries are currently at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 on a nine-level scale, meaning they have only completed proof-of-concept validation through small laboratory prototypes.

Commercial-scale manufacturing, he said, will only become feasible once the technology reaches TRL 9, the stage at which it is considered fully mature and ready for mass production.

Photo/World Economic Forum

Technology maturity remains the key challenge

Longer driving range and improved safety have made solid-state batteries one of the electric vehicle industry's most anticipated technologies. Chinese automakers and battery manufacturers have continued to accelerate development. Dongfeng Motor has announced that its 350 Wh/kg semi-solid-state battery will enter mass production in September 2026, while SAIC Motor and Qingtao Energy plan to begin small-scale deliveries of fully solid-state batteries in 2027.

Despite the industry's momentum, Zeng urged a more measured assessment of the technology's readiness.

Under the widely adopted TRL framework, Level 1 represents basic scientific research, while Level 9 indicates a technology has achieved stable, large-scale manufacturing capability. Level 4, where Zeng places today's solid-state battery technology, signifies only laboratory-scale validation under controlled conditions.

"When evaluating investments in new technologies, the key is to assess technological maturity," Zeng said. "Once the technology route becomes mature, it must still go through product development and commercialization before companies can determine whether to expand production capacity or wait for the next generation of technology."

He explained that even after a technology reaches maturity, manufacturers must still verify the product itself—including supply chain readiness, reliability and safety—before evaluating its commercial prospects. If production volumes remain limited and market demand is insufficient, large-scale investment would be difficult to justify.

Following the forum, Zeng declined most media interview requests. When asked by National Business Daily to describe China's new energy industry in one sentence, he smiled and said, "China's new energy sector is doing very well. It is thriving."

Asked what remains the most urgent challenge for the industry's supply chain, Zeng offered a brief reply: "More innovation."

Electric vehicles can serve as distributed energy resources

The three-day Summer Davos Forum concluded in Dalian on June 25, bringing together political leaders, business executives and academics to discuss the future of the global economy, technology and energy.

During a panel discussion titled "No Electricity, No Intelligence," Zeng joined other participants to discuss how to build an inclusive, AI-driven and low-carbon energy future.

Zeng argued that China's power grid and energy infrastructure are already highly developed. Although electricity demand from AI data centers is increasing, he said the larger challenge is not the amount of electricity consumed but whether those facilities are powered by fossil fuels or renewable energy.

Renewable energy, he noted, is inherently intermittent. Even regions with abundant solar and wind resources experience fluctuations in electricity generation throughout the day. Ensuring stable power supply across all 8,760 hours of the year therefore requires large-scale energy storage systems to balance supply and demand.

Against this backdrop, Zeng said electric vehicles should no longer be viewed solely as transportation tools.

"Electric vehicles combine transportation with distributed energy storage," he said. "They carry batteries, onboard computing systems and chips. While they power vehicles on the road, they can also serve as valuable resources for balancing the electricity grid."

China now has more than 40 million electric vehicles on its roads, while battery production capacity continues to expand and competition among so-called "battery gigafactories" is intensifying. Compared with conventional gasoline-powered vehicles, EVs can significantly reduce energy costs, Zeng said, adding that the company is also actively investing in distributed energy production.

As renewable energy deployment continues to expand, both stationary energy storage systems and electric vehicle fleets are expected to grow. Battery-swapping infrastructure for passenger cars and heavy-duty trucks will also require large numbers of high-capacity batteries. These batteries can be charged at swapping stations while idle and then installed in vehicles when needed, helping integrate renewable energy into the power grid and maintain grid stability.

As the panel concluded, each speaker was invited to summarize their views in a single sentence.

Zeng ended with a call for stronger international collaboration. "I hope there will be fewer geopolitical considerations and more cooperation, so we can build a better future together," he said.