The producer of batteries for electric cars, CATL, has announced that its ultra-fast charging battery (in 10 minutes) will be produced in large series from the end of 2023. And will equip an electric car model from the beginning of 2024. And we know which model will be the first to be equipped with it.
We were impatiently awaiting new information on one of the most anticipated products in the electric car field. And they arrived this Tuesday, October 17, 2023, promising the long-awaited revolution for zero-emission automobiles. Yes, we are talking about the battery capable of recharging in just 10 minutes. Or more precisely, which allows you to recover 400 km of autonomy in 10 minutes. Are you asking to see? Well know that it won’t be long before it arrives on the roads!
The announcement we were waiting for came from the Chinese giant CATL, one of the largest battery producers in the world: its production of ultra-fast charging batteries will begin at the end of the year. And we know which will be the first models to be equipped with it!
On models unknown to us
Remember this name: Shenxing. This is the name given by CATL to its highly anticipated battery. The same one which will first equip, as we now know, models from the Chinese group Chery. Which notably holds a joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover. But it is not yet models from these historically British brands that will be equipped with them. No, it will be Exeed who will have the first one!
If you don’t yet know Exeed, know that this is the group’s high-end brand, launched only a few years ago, in 2017. And if Exeed already markets a few models in the Middle Kingdom, More precisely, it is the models in the Exlantix range which will feature these new generation CATL batteries.
CATL wants to export
To summarize, CATL Shenxing batteries will equip the Exeed Exlantix. It must be admitted that this alliteration in “x” is not easy to remember on our side of the planet. And yet, we have not yet mentioned the names of the first two models: the E03 sedan and the E0Y SUV.
Nothing yet says that these ultra-fast charging models will reach us. But rest assured, CATL still aims to equip its Shenxing battery throughout the world, the Middle East, North America, Asia… and of course Europe! Moreover, the Chinese battery production giant had also recently announced that it wanted to produce its Shenxing battery directly in Europe, CATL already having a factory in Germany.
A recharge time that makes you dream
While waiting to know which models will be equipped with it on the Old Continent, let’s dream a little more about this charging revolution that awaits us. These new CATL batteries are LFP (or Lithium-Iron-Phosphate) batteries, without Cobalt, a chemistry which already equips the manufacturers of many current manufacturers, including Tesla which was supplied by CATL and has expanded to BYD.
Without going into more technical detail, this translates especially for the consumer into some impressive figures: 400 kilometers (CLTC standard, or the equivalent of approximately 340 km WLTP) recovered in 10 minutes. Without forgetting that the charging power could reach 4C, i.e. a maximum charging power accepted at a charging station four times greater than the battery capacity. In other words, the maximum power for a 60 kWh battery would be 240 kW. For comparison, the Tesla Model 3 Propulsion with an identical battery is limited to 170 kW.
In detail, this new battery can provide a maximum range of 700 km. Recovering 400 km of autonomy therefore amounts to recovering around 60% of the energy, or the exercise of 10 to 70%. We then imagine a recharge time of around 15 minutes for the 10 at 80%..
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