Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL), the world’s largest manufacturer, plans to start producing the world’s fastest-charging EV battery by the end of this year, in its latest efforts to accelerate the use of battery-powered cars. The Shenxing Battery, which can offer a 400-kilometer driving range with just 10 minutes of charging, will be delivered to some carmakers in the first quarter of 2024, CATL said. The new batteries will have 4C charging capabilities, which means they can be fully charged in just 15 minutes. “We hope more ordinary consumers can access the latest EV battery technology, and enjoy the dividends arising from technological innovations,” Wu Kai, CATL’s Chief Scientist, told a press conference. CATL will make the battery affordable for a wider range of customers, rather than just a handful of wealthy EV owners, he added. The Shenxing Battery launch is significant because a higher charging speed will help increase the use of battery-powered vehicles.
“Ultra-fast charging capability has been chased by many EV companies because many car buyers view it as a priority – saving charging time during a long journey,” said Tian Maowei, Sales Manager at Yiyou Auto Service in Shanghai. “The battery will be in high demand when delivery starts.” CATL, which is based in Ningde, Fujian province, did not disclose details about the new battery’s capacity. The 4C lithium, iron and phosphate (LFP) battery is also expected to show good performance at low temperatures, and can be charged to 80% in 30 minutes even when temperatures dip to minus 10º Celsius. At present, batteries account for about 40% of the total production cost of an EV. Xpeng also uses an ultra-fast charging battery produced by Chinese company CALB in its G9 sport-utility vehicle (SUV). The Guangzhou-based carmaker said the battery, also categorized as 4C, needs five minutes of ultra-fast charging for a driving range of 300 km.
CATL is a runaway leader in the EV battery industry worldwide. It installed 112 gigawatt-hours of batteries in the first six months of 2023, a 562% year-on-year increase. The company had a market share of 36.8% in the first half, followed by BYD’s 15.7%. Its second-quarter earnings rose 63.2% to CNY10.9 billion year-on-year, slowing from a year-on-year surge of 558% in the first three months of this year. CATL, whose clients include Tesla, BMW and Nio, unveiled the world’s first sodium-ion battery – a new technology using cheaper raw materials to save production costs – in July 2021. At the Shanghai Auto Show in April, CATL launched condensed batteries, which will be used on electric airplanes. The company said the batteries can also be used to power EVs and mass production will start this year. CATL is, however, facing a capacity glut, with the utilization rate at its production facilities dropping to 60.5% in the first half of this year from 81.25% in the same period a year ago, the South China Morning Post reports.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has reportedly expanded scrutiny of imports of electric vehicle (EV) batteries and components from China, citing so-called “forced labor,” which Chinese experts said is a fabricated excuse for the U.S. to step up containment of China's booming EV industry out of fear that it will fall behind China in the sector. A U.S. act that bans the import of goods made in Xinjiang was expanded from solar panels, tomatoes and cotton apparel to include new items such as lithium-ion batteries, tires and major automobile raw materials.
