“We will start production in small quantities in the first half of the year ending March 2022 and expand production in the second half,” says board member Masanori Minamide.
Production will be st the company’s Yasu Division, in Shiga Prefecture.
Murata bought Sony’s Sony li-ion Business in 2017 and has combined Sony’s technology its with its laminating techniques used in its multilayered ceramic capacitors.
The plan is to ramp to 100,000 batteries a month.
Solid-state batteries use a noncombustible solid electrolyte between the two electrodes. Murata’s battery uses an oxide for the electrolyte which means they can be put on a PCB and used for applications like wearables but not for large-capacity, high-output applications like EVs.
Murata is still looking for profitability in its battery business. “Some more time will be needed for the battery business to become profitable,” says President Norio Nakajima.