CATL Introduces Ultra-Fast Charging Battery with 400km Range in Just 10 Minutes

CATL officially released a new power battery that enables fast charging.

On the afternoon of August 16th, at the CATL new product launch event, the world’s first 4C ultra-fast charging lithium iron phosphate battery ‘Shenxing Supercharge Battery’ made its official debut.

C refers to the rate of charge and discharge capacity of a battery. 1C means that the battery can be fully charged in 1 hour. On the other hand, 4C indicates that the battery can be fully charged within a quarter of an hour, which is 15 minutes. Lithium iron phosphate and ternary batteries are two mainstream technological routes for lithium batteries.

According to Gao Huan, CTO of the domestic passenger car division at CATL, this battery can be charged in 10 minutes and has a range of 400 kilometers. It also has an ultra-long range capability of 700 kilometers and supports fast charging across all temperature ranges. The new product is planned to enter mass production by the end of this year and will be launched in the first quarter of next year.

Battery charging can be understood as the process of lithium ions moving from the positive electrode to the negative electrode. To achieve fast charging, this process needs to be smoother. Gao Huan said that the performance of ‘Shenxing Supercharge Battery’ comes from CATL’ technological research and innovation in materials, structure, system, and other aspects.

In terms of accelerating the positive electrode, the Shenxing ultra-fast charging battery uses the super-electron network positive electrode technology, adopts fully nano-structured lithium iron phosphate positive electrode material, and builds a super-electron network to reduce the resistance of lithium ion extraction and enable rapid response to charging signals. As for the negative electrode material, it adopts CATL’s latest second-generation fast ion ring technology, modifies the graphite surface, increases lithium ion insertion channels, and shortens insertion distance to create a high-speed platform for lithium ion conduction.

In addition, this battery also uses a superconductive electrolyte formula, which can effectively improve conductivity and reduce electrolyte viscosity, making the transmission of lithium ions smoother.

CATL’s most highly regarded fast-charging battery in the industry was previously the 4C fast-charging Qilin Battery.

Li Auto announced to the public in April this year that it will launch the world’s first all-electric vehicle equipped with 4C fast-charging Qilin Battery next year. In conjunction with Li Auto‘s new generation of 800V ultra-fast charging pure electric solution, it can achieve a charging time of 10 minutes and a range of 400 kilometers. It is not clear whether this battery will adopt a ternary cathode or lithium iron phosphate cathode.

Qilin Battery is the third-generation CTP technology released by CATL in June 2022. It is an innovative battery structure. Conventional power batteries are typically assembled in a cell-module-pack (CMP) configuration, while CTP integrates the cells directly into the battery pack, bypassing the module.

Due to the removal of the module casing outside the battery cells, there is more space for arranging the cells in the battery pack, which increases overall energy density and improves driving range. At the same time, there is a significant reduction in the number of components in the battery pack, reducing manufacturing costs and weight.

Qilin Battery can increase the energy density of lithium iron phosphate battery systems to 160 wh/kg, and the energy density of ternary battery systems to 255 wh/kg, achieving a range of 1000 kilometers for the entire vehicle.

During the investor relations event held in July, CATL revealed that the cooperation with Li Auto for the debut of Qilin Battery with 4C fast charging technology is progressing smoothly. ‘In the long run, car manufacturers have a strong willingness to launch differentiated competitive products, and it is expected that 4C fast charging technology will occupy a considerable market share,’ said the company.

The ‘2022 White Paper on Charging Behavior of Chinese Electric Vehicle Users’ released by the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance in collaboration with Nenglian ZhiDian, reveals that most users are sensitive to charging time. 96% of users prefer fast-charging stations with high charging efficiency, and the demand for fast-charging among new energy vehicle users is expected to further increase.

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Except for Ningde Times, there are currently several domestic companies that have deployed fast-charging battery products.

Last September, SUNWODA launched the 1.0 version of its fast-charging battery, which can provide a range of 200 kilometers after charging for 5 minutes. In April this year, SUNWODA released an upgraded version of the fast-charging battery, the 2.0 version, which can achieve a range of 250 kilometers after charging for 5 minutes and has a total vehicle range capability of 1000 kilometers.

In June this year, Juwan Tech released its independently developed Juwan Phoenix battery. This battery can be charged from 0% to 80% in just 6 minutes and has a range of 1000 kilometers on a full charge. It will enter mass production next year.

At today’s press conference, CATL did not disclose any new developments regarding the M3P battery. The M3P battery is a battery developed by CATL based on a new material system, with better low-temperature performance and energy density than lithium iron phosphate batteries, and lower cost than ternary lithium batteries. In February 2022, CATL first revealed plans to launch the new product M3P battery.

In the 374th batch of “Announcement on Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Products” released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology this week, the Chery Star Era ES and the first collaborative model between Chery and Huawei, Zhijie S7, appeared. The aforementioned new vehicles are equipped with ternary lithium-ion + lithium iron manganese phosphate batteries produced by a subsidiary of CATL.

The outside world sees it as a signal that CATL’s M3P battery is about to enter mass production. In response, CATL told Interface News reporters that there is currently no information available for disclosure. According to a report by 36Kr in June, CATL’s M3P battery may first be used in the modified version of the Model 3 rear-wheel drive standard range model and will also be used in future modified versions of the Model Y.