If the general public is primarily interested in the range of electric cars, their fans already know that this is not the only point to take into account when tackling long journeys. The autonomy regained for a certain charging duration, which depends on the efficiency of the models and their charging power, is just as important.
If most electric cars currently offered do not exceed 350 kW of maximum peak power, which is already enormous, some manufacturers, in particular Chinese brands, are trying to push this limit. We notably saw the Chinese van Li Auto Mega reach 521.59 kW of maximum power, on one of the rare direct current fast charging stations capable of delivering such power. It is equipped with CATL Kirin batteries, with NMC chemistry, for a capacity of 102.7 kWh.
But this record has just been beaten by another Chinese manufacturer, Zeekr, a member of the Geely group, which has recently offered CATL’s LFP Shenxing batteries on its 001 electric sedan, with a capacity of 95 kWh. In a video published on Weibo, the manufacturer reaches a maximum power of 546.4 kW when the car displays 34% charge level.
There remains the question of battery degradation, accelerated by fast charging.
A peak power record, but no charging time
Of course, peak power isn’t everything. In the published video, the exact protocol of which we do not know, the Zeekr 001 maintains a power greater than 500 kW from 10 to 42% load. It takes 11 min and 28 s to charge from 10 to 80%, which is slightly worse than the Li Auto Mega, despite its slightly larger battery, whose recharge curve allows it to go from 10 to 80% in 10 min and 36 s, according to the test carried out by the Chinese influencer 电车室长.
The Zeekr 001 thus recovers 473 km of autonomy by going from 10 to 80% charge in just over 11 minutes, but according to the CLTC cycle. With the WLTP cycle, used in Europe, this autonomy would certainly be around 400 km.
This large sedan will very soon compete with the Tesla Model S on our shores, but at a much lower price.