Humanoid Robots Face Battery Anxiety; Industry Explores Swapping and Solid-State Solutions

The current generation of mass-produced humanoid robots, capable of operating for only 2 to 4 hours, are struggling to complete a standard work shift, hindering their widespread adoption in factories and homes. This limited battery life has emerged as a significant obstacle to their practical implementation. At the recent World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC2026), Xu Wei, General Manager of Junen New Energy, a subsidiary of Jingsheng Electronics, highlighted six major industry challenges: short endurance, limited payload capacity, cramped internal space, lengthy recharging times, prominent safety risks, and high instantaneous power demands during dynamic movements. Xu Wei emphasized that these issues can be distilled into two core problems: insufficient battery life and safety concerns. Addressing the battery endurance of humanoid robots requires collaborative advancements across multiple domains, including battery materials, motor efficiency, control algorithms, and power management, rather than a single technological fix. The industry is actively investigating various solutions, such as battery swapping, solid-state batteries, and semi-solid-state batteries. Battery swapping is considered the most pragmatic short-term approach, while solid-state batteries hold significant promise but are still some distance from large-scale production. Semi-solid-state batteries are currently viewed as the most viable transitional technology.