Mercedes will contribute a “high double-digit million dollar amount” to the project, the company announced on Tuesday.

In solid-state batteries, charges aren’t transported through a liquid carrier material, allowing lighter battery cells, which increases the potential range of the vehicles. Higher energy density and faster charging are also possible.

In the summer, the Stuttgart-based company signalled a fundamental shift towards electric vehicles. The company wants to 50 per cent of new sales with fully electric or plug-in cars within four years. It said then that it wants to go fully electric by the end of the decade – wherever “market conditions allow.”