UPDATED: Solid State Batteries Are REALLY Here - Or Are They?

UPDATE on the update: see my pinned comment for the latest.

Video script and citations:

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:06 - Update 1
01:06 - Back to Intro
05:55 - Update 2
07:30 - Sponsor: Ground News
08:45 - Yoshino vs. Competition
10:21 - Update 3
10:55 - Back to comparison
12:16 - Update 4
13:03 - Back to comparison
15:27 - Update 5

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[UndecidedMF]

A quick update on the the follow-up Yoshino video: it's taking longer to pull together than I thought. It's very clear that the Yoshino battery isn't an "all solid state battery, " but I've gone down a rabbit hole of "but what is it?" It's been a fascinating and interesting journey going down this path (no, it's not your standard lithium ion battery as some are saying). I've been talking to experts in the field (like the CTO of QuantumScape and others about solid state in general), working with TechInsights to dig further into some gaps in their initial Yoshino testing, getting additional information from Yoshino itself, as well as working with a fellow YouTuber and friend that has access to university lab to do his own Yoshino analysis. The video is 100% happening, but the investigation keeps revealing new interesting layers to the discussion. Stay tuned.

[TheBitGuy]

Thank you for the update. I was disappointed when I saw another youtuber tear it down and discover it wasn't what it claimed to be.

[chickendragon]

This is really awesome to see a retraction/correction if there is an issue with a video. Good job, and please continue your hard work!

[bigtb]

Matt, I'm glad you made this update video. Thanks for taking the time. I did a teardown on my channel a couple days ago. A lot of folks in my comments were calling you out and I think coming here and calling you out in your comments as well. Just know it wasn't my intention. Admittedly, your video was part of my inspiration, but not as some sort of critique or anything, I just had some suspicions and wanted to look into it myself.

Another gentleman, @johnnysweekends also did a teardown, which was posted earlier today. Cheers!

[CheddarKungPao]

"Try our vegan burger!"
"Oh wow this tastes just like beef!"
"The patty is all beef!"
"Wait this is beef?! You said it is vegan!"
"The pickles are completely vegan."

[JosephTaber]

Future Matt Additional Context breaks:
0:06
5:57
10:22
12:18
15:28

[HDL_CinC_Dragon]

Figures there'd be some kind of "scandal" with the first solid state battery product lol

[Dreadlk]

I think every electronic engineer that watched your original video was scratching their head as you described this Power station and your testing results. Everything was completely below expectations, but you were somehow thoroughly convinced it contained Solid State batteries.

There were only two things that made me move on and not comment at the time.
The first was that you kept the illusion going that this was a Japanese Company and did not declare from the get go that this was a Chinese company. There would have been all sorts of instant Red Flags going off in my head had you stated this was a Chinese company.
The second thing was that I actually believed that you had done your Homework.

Did you not notice that in all of Yoshino's YouTube advertisements for this product that they never state that it uses Solid State Batteries? They say it's a Solid State Power Station! This is a true statement, so they are pretty much off the hook.
I know Amazon was out of stock of this product within a day after your fist video. How many people bought this Power Station based on trusting your info?

[Dan-kkoe]

Lots of respect for updating this video Matt! I saw videos tearing it down afterwards and was very surprised and felt mislead. I was about to pull the trigger on this product. Glad I didn't! But again, props for updating your audience and being forthcoming on the whoopsies.

[circuitdotlt]

They are using standard li-polymer cells, while some others use LFP. Li-polymer is lighter, but lasts much less cycles, so the product will die real quick, like all power banks.

[crzyg]

Frankly, I'm disappointed you didn't employ more skepticism.

Feels like you *wanted* this to herald the beginning of Solid State Batteries, that you disregarded the probability of this being only deceptive marketing.

[WillProwse]

Yeah there's tons of these lol. There are currently zero large volume solid state batteries right now. There's tons of falsely advertised units. I caught one on fire on my channel a year ago.

You should open every unit you review. Theres tons of garbage out there.

[nickojonsson]

Bigtb1717 shot the battery pouch with an arrow. To no surprise, it caught fire lol.

[omgwtfbbq]

At the 14:23 mark you claim that Yoshino's battery "is safer too" when showing the comparison chart with LFP batteries. How did you come to the conclusion of this battery being "safer"? I just watched another person's video where they punctured the cells in Yoshino's battery and those cells started to rapidly smoke, exactly in a way the other types of LFP batteries would do. So how is this "safer"? Serious question.

[ChaJ]

If you want a "light and dense" camping battery, the way to go is a 24V LFP. Many if not most things that can plug into a 12V cigarette lighter port are now designed to also work at 24V. 24V carries the power out more efficiently than 12V on the same wiring. Then you leave the power inverter at home.

Say you hook up my portable fridge. AC power is measured at 73W when running. DC 24V seems to be ~60W. Average DC draw is ~30W on 24V as in I calculate this number against the Wh rating of the battery to get total estimated run time on battery. So DC you cut out the conversion loss of say 10% and parasitic draw of say 5W to go from 24V DC to AC, you dump the inverter overboard all together, and you get rid of the conversation loss in the fridge from 115V AC back to 24V DC of ~20%. You may lose on average ~40% of your power between conversion loses and parasitic draw of the inverter, which is now all dumped overboard. Now say it just goes straight 24V DC from the battery to the fridge. There is a 0.5V drop from the battery to the fridge while running over the long DC cable that comes with the fridge. With 12V, you have a 1V drop and twice the current. So you go from a ~2% transmission loss to an 8% transmission loss going from 24V to 12V. So AC conversion ~40% loss. 12V is ~8% loss to go from battery to fridge. With 24V it is a ~2% loss to go from battery to fridge. 24V DC battery is the winner here.

Now what else do you want to power on your camping trip?
1. USB - USB chargers are available that very efficiently take 24V power and buck it down to your device voltage. For PD, the output voltage is typically 20V, so a DC-DC buck conversation from say 26V of an LFP battery to 20V is about the most efficient thing you can possibly do. Nearly 100% efficient. So again a 24V battery wins.

2. Dedicated laptop charger - Say you have a laptop with a dedicated power plug, not USB-C PD. A standard Dell power supply for example is 19.5V. Again going from ~26V of an LFP battery to 19.5V through a simple buck conversion on a buck-boost converter is about the most efficient thing you can possibly do. Nearly 100% efficient. They make a variety of these and ones that are "universal", so pretty much any laptop can be powered this way even if you don't do USB-C PD charging or it kind of sucks on your particular laptop model.

3. Starlink Mini - This can take a 100W USB-C PD power supply. Again 20V. So a 24V LFP battery to do this primarily doing a buck conversion (maybe use a voltage stabilizer) is the most efficient thing you can do.

4, Cell booster - They make these that can plug into a cigarette lighter port. I am sure you can find one with a power supply rated for a 24V LFP battery.

5. Cooking - Use a propane stove. Job done. No electricity needed. Anyways, bringing an electric hot plate or microwave oven is a lot more crap to lug around. Just bring a propane stove and call it a day. And you know for hot coffee, you could just boil hot water on the propane stove. This process does work without your electric espresso machine.

6. Lighting - USB charged lights. No AC power needed. Why would you fuss with a propane or white gas lantern? I mean an LED light you just press the button and it turns on and off. And why would you bring an AC lamp or something with you? You are camping here, right?

Really, what are you bringing an AC inverter on a camping trip for? Just dump the inverter overboard and then you have "light and dense". Certainly lighter and denser than any of these portable power stations.

[deldarel]

Unlisting and linking the original is great. You get the full value plus the update's value in this video, and the unlisted video now won't show up in the algorithm and deceive people, while it's still available for the sceptics to go through, but they have to go through this video first so they better come with points that aren't already raised.
I'm looking forward to the part 2, and I think this should be the golden standard of 'partially retracting a video which still has value'. Unlist the original. Update part 1 and link to the original, then work on a part 2. It leaves no uncertainty during the investigation.

[JaySee]

Timestamps for the new additions would be welcome for those of use who already saw your first video.

[insevanhouts]

Matt, just like I mentioned on your first video: Regardless whether this is solid state or not, the higher energy density comes from the fact this uses NMC cells and not LFP like the powerbanks you compare it to...

NMC cells have an average energy density of 250Wh/kg, while LFP sits around 175Wh/kg.

[rfwillett]

I still think your first video was good, you were careful to cover your arse, and you made it clear that it was only the cathode which was solid state. You also made it very clear that the only information you had at the time was the companies own marketing material, and that those claims would be supported in time or not. In the end solid state is a game of definitions, and the important point is functionality, primarily energy density, safety, and the number of charge/discharge cycles. If it succeeds in meeting those criteria, I'm happy enough to call it solid state.
Personally I think those jumping all over you, the way the did in the comments were acting like a bunch of hysterical drama kiddy's with poor critical thinking skills.

[celeritask]

Props I guess for taking down the original, but it's really the bare minimum required here. You presented a no-name manufacturer's marketing as factual proof and didn't do the most basic investigation to verify it. The little research you did do gave no indication at all that these are anything other than regular Li-Ion batteries with liquid electrolytes.

Bring more skepticism in the future. Do the work. Don't buy into marketing BS.