Hybrids will provide a perfect test for the technology before...

Hybrids will provide a perfect test for the technology before the automaker gets in too deep with a solid-state battery powered EV. In the past, Toyota as a company said it does want to look into this battery type with a hybrid application first. Specifically, it said, "One of the reasons that Toyota is starting with HEVs is because it wants to introduce solid-state batteries to the market as soon as possible, gain customer feedback, and continue to evolve them."We shouldn't lose sight that this is a super aggressive timetable for the technology in the grand scheme of things. Solid-state batteries have eluded engineers for years now with no good way to bring them to production at scale and appropriate cost. However, by the middle of this decade, Toyota may be ready to change that.

So this could either be a costly endeavor that makes no further ground on bringing SSD to EVs or it does bring them a bit sooner to market. My bet is on the former. NVX wouldn't be sitting on their hands if some technology better than their own was at the cusp of being produced and brought to market at scale at a reasonable price. Looking at NVX's board I think they know what they're doing IMO.