Chinese manufacturer CATL has unveiled a new electric vehicle (EV) battery that can charge in record time, adding an estimated 2.5km of range per second of charging.
Its second-generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery can charge from 5% to 80% in just 15 minutes, which is 100% faster than the industry’s highest current charging level, the firm said.
Nevertheless, to achieve those speeds, vehicles will need to be hooked up to 1MW fast chargers, which are currently a rarity. Tesla Superchargers, for example, only offer maximum charging rates of up to 250kW.
CATL supplies batteries for a wide range of car brands including Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen and Ford, and is the world’s largest supplier with an estimated 38% of the global market. Gao Huan, the firm’s chief technology officer, said it expects the new technology to be featured in at least 67 EVs that will be released this year.
The Shenxing battery has also been designed to operate at temperatures as low as -10°C, environments that...