A Chinese company called CATL announced a new battery technology for electric cars at the Beijing Auto Show. This new battery is a major leap forward in charging speed and driving range.
CATL’s Shenxing Plus battery can add almost 400 miles of driving range in just 10 minutes of charging! A full charge can take you up to 621 miles, which is farther than most people drive in a day. This is a big improvement over Tesla’s Supercharger network, which can add up to 200 miles of range in 15 minutes.
It’s important to remember that these numbers are based on a Chinese testing system that might be a little more generous than other testing methods. CATL also didn’t say how efficient the battery would be, which can affect how far you can actually drive.
This new Shenxing Plus battery is even better than CATL’s previous fast-charging battery. The older battery could add 248 miles of range in 10 minutes, but the new one can do 49% more!
The Shenxing Plus battery also holds more energy than some other batteries on the market. It has an energy density of 205 watt-hours/kilogram, which is better than a competing battery from BYD. Tesla’s batteries use a different technology and can hold even more energy, but they also cost more.
CATL developed some special technology to make this battery possible. They use a new material to improve energy density and control how the battery expands and contracts during charging and discharging. They also improved the packaging of the battery to fit more power in a smaller space.
CATL’s previous fast-charging battery is already being used in several car models, and they expect that number to grow quickly. So, it likely won’t be too long before we see electric cars that can travel hundreds of miles on a single charge and add hundreds of miles of range in just a few minutes of charging. This could make electric cars much more convenient and practical for long trips.