- A new fast-charging EV battery has been announced
- It charges from 10%-98% in as little as 6 minutes and 27 seconds
- It offers high-speed charging in temperatures as low as -30°C (-22°F)
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Electric vehicle (EV) battery technology has taken another leap forward with a new charging benchmark just set by a Chinese battery giant.
CATL – the market-leading electric battery manufacturer – has announced its Shenxing 3rd Generation Battery, which it claims can charge even faster than BYD’s recently announced, and already impressive, Blade 2.0 offering.
CATL says its new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery can be charged from 10%-35% in one minute, 10%-80% in three minutes and 44 seconds, and 10%-98% in six minutes and 27 seconds.
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By comparison, BYD’s latest battery takes four minutes and 54 seconds to go from 10%-70% and nine minutes to charge from 10% to 97%.
CATL’s new battery can also apparently perform remarkably well in low temperatures (as low as -30°C / -22°F) thanks to its ‘self-heating technology’.
Information about this technology is a bit thin on the ground for now, but according to CarNewsChina, it “uses pulsed rapid heating to solve low-temperature ultra-fast charging challenges”.
Low temperatures can significantly reduce charging rates for electric batteries, which is why we’ve seen a number of manufacturers offer heat pumps (usually optional or limited to top-spec models) to help with charging in cold weather.
The proposition here with CATL’s self-heating technology is that there will be no need for a traditional heat pump, which can save on overall weight and costs.
Analysis: The future of EV ownership is bright
CATL didn’t mention the type of range we can expect from its new battery, although if we take BYD’s Blade 2.0 offering as a baseline, 400+ miles seems like an achievable marker for these new power packs thanks to increased density.
With greater range, even faster charging and more affordable models entering the market, the main barriers to EV ownership are melting away. CATL also announced that an update to the Qilin battery is capable of driving 1500 km on a single charge.
“The frontiers of electrochemistry are still far from being reached,” noted CATL founder Robin Zeng. “And the possibilities of materials science are still far from exhausted.”
Being able to charge your electric car pretty much as fast as a petrol-powered car is great, but you need access to a high-powered charger to get those speeds – and therein lies the last big hurdle for the electric market to overcome.
EV charging networks in countries around the world are expanding rapidly – BYD has rolled out its first 1,500 kW chargers in China – but it will take some time before there is a readily available network of high-speed chargers across other nations.
However, the future is certainly bright for EVs – give this battery technology a year or so to make its way into vehicles and for the charging infrastructure to continue to grow, and EV ownership is poised to take pole position on driveways around the world.
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