Electric vehicle charge times are approaching fast-food territory, at least when talking about speed.
China's CATL has unveiled a lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery that can reportedly provide a 248-mile range on a 10-minute charge. The news could be a whopper for drivers reluctant to buy an EV over fears of long charge times. It can take about as long to gas up a fossil-burner if there's a short line at the pumps, for instance.
CATL calls the power pack a novel combination of LFP tech and charge speed. Company officials hope the extremely fast charge time could help to grow an already expanding EV market.
The battery is called Shenxing. InsideEVs reports the name comes from an old Chinese saying that lauds speed. But there are other perks to the tech, as well.
LFP batteries are typically cheaper to produce than some alternatives because they use iron and other metals as part of the charge/discharge chemistry. Iron is easier to gather than nickel and cobalt, which are used in many EV batteries.
It's part of the effort from CATL experts to relieve "anxiety" among drivers when watching the charge gauge drop during road trips. The battery can provide about 435 miles of range on a full charge. Shenxing can reach 80 percent charge capacity in about 30 minutes, CATL reports.
"We hope through continuous efforts to improve technology and reduce costs, Shenxing will become a standard product available for every electric vehicle," Gao Han, chief technology officer for EVs at CATL, said in the InsideEVs report.
The Shenxing creators said the battery is also safe, as well as efficient, in cold weather. It can charge quickly in temperatures as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Using "intelligent algorithms," the batteries regulate the temperature inside the power cells, which the company said helps to ensure safety while charging quickly.
The Shenxing is expected to be mass-produced later this year and installed in EVs by early 2024. CATL's biggest battery client to date is Tesla, per InsideEVs.
CATL, the world's biggest battery maker, is also expanding its power-pack recycling sector to more continents as it tries to stay ahead of other Chinese EV businesses competing for market share, including BYD. CATL's newsroom features a slew of accolades for its innovations and experts.
Now, the goal is to make the technology as common as a Big Mac — with a similarly fast turnaround time.
"As EV consumers shift from pioneering users to ordinary users, we should make advanced technology accessible for all and enable everyone to savor the fruits of innovation," CATL chief scientist Wu Kai said in a press release.
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