ASSBs Enter Engineering Validation as Asian Suppliers Accelerate Auto Testing

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TrendForce’s latest “Quarterly Report on Developments in Global SSB Industry, 2Q26” reveals that the all-solid-state battery (ASSB) sector has reached an important stage of engineering validation in 2026. Companies including Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Samsung SDI are slightly ahead in small-scale ASSB pilot production. Moreover, Japanese suppliers have already verified key automotive-grade performance metrics and are speeding up the assessment of ASSB modules for vehicle use.

TrendForce observes that ASSB Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) have advanced significantly in 2026. Across key development regions including China, Japan, and South Korea, ASSB performance validation has progressed beyond the laboratory proof-of-concept stage (TRL 1–3), with some leading companies advancing toward TRL 5–6. This marks a shift in R&D priorities from achieving laboratory-scale material breakthroughs to improving manufacturing processes, ensuring product consistency, and meeting automotive qualification requirements.

Leading Japanese and Korean companies achieved breakthroughs in ASSB sample validation on pilot engineering lines during the first half of 2026, with automotive ASSB cells completing partial performance and reliability verification. The cells met design targets for key metrics, including charge-discharge performance and durability. For example, Nissan’s thick-format 23-layer stacked automotive ASSB cell has completed charge-discharge testing and demonstrated better capacity retention than conventional liquid lithium-ion batteries.

Meanwhile, leading Chinese companies including CATL, BYD, and FAW continued advancing small-scale ASSB pilot lines, accelerating progress toward TRL 4–5.

Alongside automotive-grade validation, ASSB applications are expanding from EVs into higher-value markets. TrendForce uncovered that SSB products from companies including Samsung SDI, Maxell, Ilika, ProLogium, and Factorial are targeting drones/eVTOLs, microelectronics, construction machinery, and embodied robots, with several applications and orders beginning to materialize.