At a 90-minute Beijing event ahead of the Beijing Auto Show, the Chinese battery giant CATL rolled out a lighter pack it claims can hit a 1,000-km (621-mile) range and a faster-charging unit.
The outfit claims its latest Qilin battery, a high-energy-density pack commonly paired with nickel manganese cobalt cells, can deliver that 1,000-km figure while trimming pack weight. The pitch is aimed at carmakers staring down tighter efficiency rules in China and elsewhere.
Then came the upgraded Shenxing, CATL’s fast-charging lithium iron phosphate pack, which the outfit claims can go from 10 per cent to 98 per cent in less than seven minutes.
That is a big jump from the previous Shenxing version, which managed five per cent to 80 per cent in 15 minutes. It sharpens the scrap with BYD, whose Blade battery reportedly charges from 10 per cent to 97 per cent in about nine minutes.
CATL and BYD together control more than half of the global EV battery market, so the bragging rights matter far beyond China. Carmakers want lower costs, faster charging and longer range, and both suppliers are happy to sell them a future in seven minutes.
The outfit is pushing chemistry changes, saying it will begin mass production of sodium-ion batteries in the fourth quarter. Sodium-ion is pitched as a cheaper route that eases dependence on lithium, cobalt and nickel.
Chairman Robin Zeng said CATL will expand battery swapping and charging across China. The firm plans to build 100,000 charging and swapping stations with a group of Chinese carmakers by the end of 2028.
“The boundaries of electrochemistry are still far from being reached, and the possibilities of materials science are still far from being exhausted,” Zeng said.
CATL remains the world’s largest EV battery maker, supplying brands including Tesla, Toyota, Xiaomi and a stack of Chinese EV names. SNE Research says CATL’s share of global EV battery usage rose to 42.1 per cent in the first two months of the year, up from 38.7 per cent a year earlier.
