All-Solid-State Is at 2027 Pilot Production, LFP Is Already at 63%

What is in focus: the ‘next generation’ and the ‘current generation’ are moving at once

CATL reaffirmed its plan to begin small-batch pilot production of all-solid-state batteries in 2027, and cathode material statistics for the first half of 2026 released at the same time showed the LFP share expanding to 63.6%. All-solid-state is still in the ‘announcement’ realm at technology readiness level 4/9, while LFP is in the ‘physical’ realm confirmed by loading volumes, so judging the two trends by the same yardstick easily leads to misjudgment.

Starting with the industry landscape, according to reports, CATL said its all-solid-state battery technology readiness level (TRL, a scale dividing how far a technology has come from the laboratory to mass production into levels 1 to 9) is currently at level 4 of 9, and that it will raise it to levels 7-8 by 2027 to pursue pilot production and real-world validation. Targeting high-value demand such as EVs and humanoid robots, it has expanded its R&D staff to more than 1,000 and has been producing 20Ah-class samples and conducting customer tests. It sees mass production and market entry as coming after 2030. Earlier, CATL chairman Zeng Yuqun (Robin Zeng) was reported to have said at the Summer Davos forum in Dalian, China on June 25, 2026 that solid-state technology is still at level 4 and that another 3-5 years will be needed after small-batch production before full mass production.

Meanwhile, according to SNE Research, global cathode material loading for EVs in the first half of 2026 was 1,374,000 tons (+21.6% year on year), and within this the LFP share expanded to 63.6%. Among Korean companies, only L&F increased its ternary loading (26,000 tons to 40,000 tons, +53.8%), while EcoPro and POSCO Future M declined.

The tension lies in the difference in time axes. All-solid-state is at the stage of building rights now for a market five years out, while LFP is at the stage of competing on volume in today’s market. This article answers three questions. How do the two trends differ technically, where do they stand in numbers, and what should planning and IP staff track from a patent perspective?

Basic principle: the blueprint stage versus the store-shelf stage

All-solid-state batteries are an approach that replaces the liquid electrolyte with a solid to pursue energy density and safety at the same time. LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, by contrast, are an already proven existing technology that gives up some energy density in exchange for advantages in cost, safety and lifespan. It is more accurate to see the two trends as targeting different segments (robots and premium EVs vs. mass-market EVs and ESS) rather than as competitors.

Comparing technology readiness to construction, level 4 is the stage of building a model in the laboratory based on the blueprint and checking its performance. Levels 7-8 are the stage of building a full-size model home and validating it with people living in it, and only at level 9 do sales and mass construction become possible. The goal CATL stated is to jump from the model stage to the model-home stage within about a year and a half. LFP, on the other hand, is competing to add households in a complex where move-in is already complete.

What this analogy shows is that the indicators used to measure ‘progress’ differ between the two trends.

• All-solid-state: milestones such as technology readiness level, sample capacity (Ah) and whether customer validation has begun are the indicators.
• LFP: volumes such as loading (tons), share (%) and year-on-year growth are the indicators.

Comparison: where CATL all-solid-state and LFP currently stand

The table below keeps the figures from the original comparison table and adds confirmed announcements and statistics. All-solid-state items are based on reports relaying company announcements and are not third-party verified figures.

Category	All-solid-state (CATL)	LFP
Current status	Preparing for pilot (technology readiness 4/9)	Already in mass production, share expanding (63.6%)
Target timing	2027 pilot production / mass production after 2030	Ongoing now
Scale indicators	20Ah-class samples, R&D staff over 1,000	H1 2026 loading 874,000 tons (+29.4%)
Main targets	High-value uses such as EVs and humanoid robots (reported priority for premium EVs priced at 250,000 yuan or more at first)	Mass-market EVs, ESS
Korean company trends	Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution developing separately	L&F loading up (26,000 tons to 40,000 tons); EcoPro BM (37,000 tons to 28,000 tons) and POSCO Future M (31,000 tons to 24,000 tons) down

What this table says: LFP loading in the first half of 2026 was 874,000 tons, up 29.4% year on year, about three times the growth rate of ternary materials (10.1%), and the LFP share rose 3.8 percentage points from 59.8% to 63.6%. All-solid-state remains at a milestone stage with no volume indicators for the same period.

The Korean company trends row is also worth noting. L&F’s increase is based on ternary loading, and the top LFP positions were held by Chinese companies such as Hunan Yuneng (157,000 tons to 202,000 tons). In other words, the numbers confirm that the expanding LFP share did not translate into volume growth for Korean cathode makers.

Patent perspective: announcements and claims must be read separately

CATL’s detailed filings on solid-state materials and interfaces cannot be confirmed from this news alone. Self-assessed technology readiness and analysis of published claims are separate matters, so it is premature to conclude CATL’s technological lead from this announcement alone. However, published granted patents do show which direction of sulfide electrolytes CATL has been turning into rights.

A representative example is US granted patent US11699812B2. Its title is “Sulfide solid electrolyte and method for the preparation thereof, all-solid-state lithium secondary battery, and apparatus containing the same”, and the original assignee is Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (current assignee Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) Limited). The priority date is April 25, 2019, the US filing date is October 25, 2021, and the grant date is July 11, 2023; according to Google Patents it is Active with an anticipated expiration date of May 2, 2040.

Restating the gist of claim 1, it is a sulfide solid electrolyte obtained by compounding at least Li₂S, P₂S₅ and a dopant MₓS₂O₃ (where M is one or more of Na, K, Ba and Ca, and 1≤x≤2). Put simply, it is a composition patent that mixes a thiosulfate-type dopant into the basic raw materials of a sulfide electrolyte to improve ionic conductivity and electrochemical stability.

Insight: the claims for the 2027 pilot technology are likely not yet published. Patent applications are generally published 18 months after the priority date, so US11699812B2, visible now at the grant stage, reflects technology as of 2019. Process and interface patents from the effort to raise technology readiness from level 4 to levels 7-8 are likely to be published in turn over 2026-2027. In other words, FTO (freedom-to-operate) review for all-solid-state is not a one-time task but a recurring monitoring task aligned with publication cycles. Conversely, because LFP is already a mature technology, the focus of rights disputes is likely to have shifted from the composition itself to manufacturing processes and application structures.

Avoidance points: The key limitation of claim 1 of US11699812B2 is that the dopant takes the form MₓS₂O₃ and M is specified as Na, K, Ba or Ca. A composition that changes the dopant family from thiosulfate to, for example, halides, or that does not use P₂S₅ in the raw material combination, may leave room to distance itself from literal infringement.

Design-around scenario (counterargument): However, if a thiosulfate dopant using an element not on the M list achieves the same function in the same way, it may be subject to a doctrine-of-equivalents assessment. In addition, since this patent’s title includes a preparation method and an apparatus, it is hard to assume that changing only the electrolyte composition escapes all claims. Meanwhile, BYD has also announced solid-state pilot production for 2027 and was reported to have filed or registered six new patents combining halide and sulfide solid electrolytes, so competitors’ rights must be compared as well.

Limitations and outlook

All-solid-state is still at the pilot stage, while LFP is already the subject of physical competition among domestic and foreign companies over market share. With BYD also having announced solid-state pilot production in 2027, competition to commercialize next-generation batteries is expected to proceed simultaneously on two different axes for the time being: ‘announcements’ and ‘physical market share’.

The optimistic outlook is that CATL reaches levels 7-8 in 2027 as targeted and all-solid-state takes hold starting with premium EVs. There is also a counter-scenario. Since chairman Zeng himself said another 3-5 years will be needed after small-batch production before full mass production, if LFP further expands the low- and mid-priced market with cost and volume in the meantime, the early market for all-solid-state may remain in a narrower premium segment for longer than expected.

The strategic alternative is to manage the two tracks separately. For all-solid-state, respond to the ‘rights formation period’ with published-patent monitoring and preemptive filings; for LFP, respond to the ‘volume competition period’ with FTO focused on process and application patents and supply chain negotiations.

Practical action: Planning and IP staff should set up a watch that queries published patents on sulfide and halide solid electrolytes in the names of CATL and BYD every quarter, and as the first target, prepare a claim comparison chart for US11699812B2 and its family.

Items requiring verification

• The original announcement material for CATL’s stated R&D staff of over 1,000 and 20Ah-class samples (whether from the earnings call itself)
• The latest official announcements on Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution all-solid-state development schedules
• The numbers and claims of the six solid-state patents BYD was reported to have filed or registered
• The Chinese and European family and follow-on filing status of US11699812B2

Sources

1. ZDNet Korea, “K-cathode makers split in the first half… only L&F increases loading” (2026-08-11, citing SNE Research)
2. HelloT, “Global EV battery cathode materials up 21.6% in the first half… LFP share 63.6%” (2026-08-11)
3. The Guru, “World No. 1 battery company CATL to begin solid-state battery pilot production next year”
4. Star News, “CATL to begin solid-state battery pilot production in 2027, ‘second after BYD'” (2026-08-11)
5. Caixin Global, “Solid-State Battery Tech Far From Mass Production, CATL Chairman Says” (2026-06-25)
6. electrive.com, “CATL targets 2027 start for solid-state battery pilot production” (2026-08-11)
7. Google Patents, US11699812B2 – Sulfide solid electrolyte and method for the preparation thereof, all-solid-state lithium secondary battery, and apparatus containing the same (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited)

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