Gu Jie says IRON’s solid-state batteries enter small-batch production

XPeng’s solid-state battery for its IRON humanoid robot is coming off the line in small batches, vice-president Gu Jie told the yearly congress of the China Society of Automotive Engineers on 28 October. IRON itself is still before the start of series production, which XPeng targets for the end of 2026, he said. His slide says “solid-state”; in November 2025 XPeng said IRON would be the first in the industry to use an all-solid-state battery.

Gu Jie and his slide

Gu Jie is now a key figure in XPeng’s robotics team. He leads systems engineering in its robotics centre, which He Xiaopeng runs, and remains XPeng’s vice-president for the electric powertrain, the motors and drive units that move its cars. He is one of the key managers XPulse lists for XPeng. On 28 October he spoke at SAECCE, the yearly congress and exhibition of the China Society of Automotive Engineers, held for the 33rd time.

His slide, headed “Physical AI: Energy”, says XPeng has introduced a solid-state battery made for robots. A robot has little room and every kilogram counts, so the slide gives the battery 30% more energy per kilogram. Robots work beside people in varied conditions, so XPeng says it rebuilt the safety standard: a design that stops heat spreading from a failing cell, and tests for impact, a nail driven through and a hot oven.

Gu Jie at a lectern marked ‘The 33rd China-SAE Congress’ beside an XPeng slide headed ‘Physical AI: Energy’. In Chinese it reads: XPeng introduces a solid-state battery made for robots, high energy density and system safety by design; range — limited space, sensitive to weight, 30% higher energy per kilogram; safety — people and robots together, complex conditions, a rebuilt standard: design against heat spreading, impact, nail penetration, hot oven. A drawing of battery layers is labelled solid electrolyte. — Gu Jie at the 33rd China SAE Congress, 28 October 2026. The slide, in English: “XPeng introduces a solid-state battery made for robots. High energy density and system safety by design. Range: limited space, sensitive to weight; energy per kilogram up 30%. Safety: people and robots together, complex conditions; standard rebuilt: design against heat spreading, impact, nail penetration, hot oven.” The drawing is labelled “solid electrolyte”. Picture: China EV Home.

These are the kinds of test XPeng put figures on when it announced IRON’s battery last November: no fire with a 3 mm nail driven through, a jolt of 300 times the force of gravity, and an hour at 250°C without overheating out of control. It also said then that the battery was 30% lighter and held 30% more charge.

XPeng’s Tech Day slide beside a large picture of IRON’s metal frame. It reads, in Chinese and English, ‘Industry’s First Adoption of All-Solid-State Battery’, then in Chinese: extremely light with very high energy density, 30% less weight and 30% more charge; extremely safe, an hour at 250°C without losing control, a 300G impact, and no fire with a 3 mm nail driven through. He Xiaopeng stands small on the stage below. — XPeng’s slide at its Tech Day in Guangzhou, 5 November 2025, in English: “XPeng’s new-generation IRON. Industry’s first adoption of all-solid-state battery. Extremely light, very high energy density: 30% less weight, 30% more charge. Extremely safe: an hour at 250°C without losing control; withstands a 300G impact; no fire with a 3 mm nail driven through.” Frame from XPeng’s broadcast of the event.

All-solid-state or semi-solid

An all-solid-state battery has no liquid inside; a semi-solid one keeps some. Gu Jie’s slide says solid-state, and its drawing labels a solid electrolyte; neither says whether any liquid remains. In September Jipian Lab, a Chinese publication covering the battery industry, reported that XPeng had chosen semi-solid cells for the production IRON. It said the main supplier is a smaller Chinese battery maker, after XPeng had sought all-solid-state cells from BYD, Gotion, CALB and EVE without success. XPeng has not confirmed the report, and has not said who makes the cells or how many have been made.

Where IRON stands

After trial production from July, XPeng opened IRON’s production line on 8 September, when the first robot walked off it after automated final assembly. On 23 September, after its first robot supplier conference, it said it had signed agreements with its parts suppliers and was scheduling production. It plans mass production at the end of 2026, a little over two months away, and deliveries from the first half of 2027, starting in its own stores and campuses.

Next: AI Day in November

He Xiaopeng said on 15 October that XPeng’s annual AI Day will be in Guangzhou in November. Last year’s was on 5 November, a date he named on Weibo on 30 October, six days ahead. There the new IRON first walked on stage; it moved so like a person that some viewers asked whether someone was inside, and the next day he posted a video showing the machinery under its covering. XPeng’s shares rose nearly 10% in New York that day and 2% in Hong Kong. By 11 November both listings were more than 20% above their closes before the show, a rise China EV Home tied to XPeng’s run of product and technology announcements.

This year’s AI Day is the next chance for XPeng to say more about IRON’s battery: whether it is all-solid-state or semi-solid, whether it matches last year’s figures for weight and charge, and how long the robot runs on a charge.