Chinese battery maker Gotion High-Tech said on May 17 it has started pilot production and achieved self-reliance for all-solid-state batteries at its Hefei manufacturing facility with made-in-China core equipment, an important step to large-scale use of the long-horizon solution for electric vehicles. The company, which counts Volkswagen as its largest shareholder with a 24.45% stake, now has 0.2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of capacity for the pilot production of its Gemstone all-solid-state batteries, which have an energy density of 350 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) at a cell level. Similar to the offerings of competitors such as Toyota, Gotion’s batteries utilize solid sulfides as the conductive material, which have high ionic conductivity but could be highly reactive with air. Pan said the company has improved the level of stability of the material from 79% to 95%. [TechNode reporting, Gotion release, in Chinese]