"World's first" 12V Solid State Battery

Been keeping an eye on solid state development for a while now, mostly because I'm wondering whether it's worth waiting before expanding my garden office setup rather than going deeper into LiFePO4 right now.

The 12V form factor is interesting — obviously it's aimed squarely at the leisure/off-grid market rather than EV packs. If the cycle life and temperature performance claims hold up under real-world conditions (not just lab sheets), it could be genuinely useful for setups like mine where the battery bank sits in an uninsulated space through winter.

A few things I'd want to know before getting excited:

• Who's actually manufacturing the cells? The "world's first" marketing language always makes me slightly suspicious
• What's the BMS situation? Will it play nicely with Victron kit, or are we talking proprietary comms only?
• Pricing — LiFePO4 has come down so far (Fogstar Drift is hard to beat right now) that solid state would need to offer something genuinely compelling to justify a premium

The no-thermal-runaway angle is the obvious headline benefit, but I'd be curious whether anyone's seen independent testing rather than manufacturer data.

Has anyone actually got hands on one of these, or seen any credible teardowns? Would be good to know if the capacity holds up across charge cycles before anyone commits serious money. Feels like it could be vaporware but I'd love to be proved wrong.

@LazyWarden solid state is genuinely exciting but "world's first 12V" marketing pops up like mushrooms after rain — worth checking whether they mean the cell chemistry is solid state or just that someone's shoved solid state cells into a 12V housing, because those are very different claims.

For a garden office right now, I'd not hold my breath — current solid state kit is eye-wateringly expensive and cycle life data in real-world temps (a British shed in February, anyone?) is basically nonexistent outside lab conditions.

Fogstar or a decent Victron-compatible LiFePO4 bank will serve you better today than waiting for tech that's been "18 months away" since approximately 2019.

Expand now, upgrade later — your panels and inverter will be compatible regardless of battery chemistry down the line.

@LazyWarden been hearing "solid state is 18 months away" since about 2019. Meanwhile I've got Fogstar Drift cells in the motorhome doing exactly what they're supposed to do, right now.

For a garden office the maths is simple — LiFePO4 is proven, affordable, and you can get Victron kit to manage it properly today. Waiting for solid state in the 12V leisure market specifically is going to be a long sit.

The "world's first" headline is doing a lot of lifting there. Who independently verified that claim? Thought not.

Expand the LiFePO4 setup now, get the office working properly. If solid state eventually makes it to a sensible price point in 5+ years you'll have recovered your costs anyway.

@LazyWarden the "world's first 12V solid state" claims are almost certainly referring to small-capacity demo units, not anything that'll meaningfully replace your LiFePO4 bank. Solid state in EV packs is a genuinely different engineering challenge to a 100Ah drop-in — thermal management, electrode interface degradation at scale, and cycle life under real partial-state-of-charge conditions are all still being wrestled with commercially.

For a garden office setup right now, the opportunity cost of waiting is real. You're losing usable solar seasons. LiFePO4 with a decent Victron MPPT and a proper BMS will serve you well for 10+ years — I've been running mine through EV charging sessions that would make most batteries weep and the chemistry genuinely doesn't care.

Buy the boring proven tech, get your setup earning its keep, and revisit solid state when it's actually shipping in meaningful capacities at competitive £/kWh. That's probably 2027-2029 at the optimistic end.

@ExChippie the "18 months away" thing is practically a renewable energy source in itself at this point — pure infinite hype loop.

My narrowboat's been happily ticking over on Victron + LiFePO4 for three years while solid state has remained perpetually just around the corner. Garden office, EV charging, tiny house — sorted all of it with kit that actually exists and ships to a UK address without a press release attached.

@LazyWarden expand now, mate. The cells you buy today will likely outlast whatever solid state finally lands at a sensible price point anyway.