CATL one-ups BYD with latest fast-charging electric vehicle battery development

CATL has unveiled three electric vehicle (EV) battery products at its inaugural Super Tech Day: the Freevoy Dual-Power Battery; Naxtra, a mass-produced sodium-ion battery; and the second-generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery, as well as an integrated 24V start/stop Naxtra battery for heavy-duty trucks.

Naxtra Battery

CATL's Naxtra Battery breaks through the performance boundaries of the material itself, achieving the mass production of sodium-ion batteries for the first time. With sodium's inherent safety and abundant reserves, it efficiently reduces dependence on lithium resources and strengthens the foundation of new energy technologies, while promoting energy utilization from single resource dependence to energy freedom.

The Naxtra Battery product line includes two categories: the Naxtra passenger EV Battery and the Naxtra 24V Heavy-Duty Truck Integrated Start-Stop Battery. Both are capable of performing across the full temperature range from -40°C to 70°C, redefining the extreme temperature limitations of batteries. The Naxtra passenger EV Battery retains 90% usable power at -40°C. In an extremely low state of charge with only 10% SOC remaining, the Naxtra passenger EV Battery suffers no significant power degradation at a temperature of -40 ℃.

CATL's Naxtra passenger EV Battery achieves an energy density of 175Wh/kg, the highest among sodium-ion batteries worldwide, and comparable to LFP batteries. It offers a 500km  range and can achieve more than 10,000 cycles, which significantly reduces maintenance costs. In terms of safety, the Naxtra Battery eliminates combustion-supporting factors at the material level.

CATL's Naxtra 24V Heavy-Duty Truck Integrated Start-Stop Battery boasts more than years of service life. It reduces total lifecycle costs by 61% compared to traditional lead-acid batteries. This product offers advantages including deep discharge across the entire capacity, one-click starting at -40°C, and the ability to start after being idle for a year. Compared to lead-acid batteries, it is more efficient, eco-friendly, and economical.

Freevoy Dual-Power Battery

The Freevoy Dual-Power Battery deeply integrates CATL's dual-power architecture and self-forming anode technology. The dual-power architecture means that the battery pack has two powerful independent energy zones, which enable five dual functions: dual high-voltage, dual low-voltage, dual structure, dual thermal management, and dual thermal runaway safety protection, ensuring the continuity, stability, and safety of power output. This dual-power design and innovative integration of software will provide a more stable and reliable power supply for vehicles in the upcoming L3 and L4 autonomous driving era.

The self-forming anode technology represents a breakthrough at the atomic level, meaning the volumetric energy density of the battery can increase by 60%, and the gravimetric energy density by 50%. This also means that more power can be engineered into the same battery pack space, supporting longer range. This technology can be flexibly paired with various material systems, and when combined with NCM systems, the energy density can be increased to more than 1000Wh/L.

The dual-electric range extension technology pioneered by the Freevoy Dual-Power Battery can intuitively regulate the allocation strategy of two energy zones based on the vehicle's driving status and users' driving habits. The main energy zone of the dual-power battery can use different chemical systems of battery cells according to the users' driving habits and scenarios, meeting daily driving needs. The extended range energy zone can adopt high specific energy self-forming anode technology to provide greater capacity to meet users' long-distance travel needs.

Three dual-power solutions across different chemical systems were released on site:

• Sodium-LFP Dual-Power Battery - combines Naxtra with an LFP self-forming anode battery, fully utilizing the low-temperature performance of sodium-ion technology to provide users with an exceptional experience that excels in cold conditions while delivering extended range.
• LFP-LFP Dual-Power Battery – pairs the second-generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery with the LFP self-forming anode battery. It easily achieves 1,000km of pure electric range in sedans with a 3m wheelbase, reducing the commuting cost per kilometer to as low as 0.1 yuan.
• NCM-LFP/NCM-NCM Dual-Power Battery – integrates an NCM battery with an LFP self-forming anode battery, achieving a peak charging rate of 12C for the NCM battery in the main energy zone, providing more than 1mW of power. Even when SOC drops to 20%, it can still output more than 600kW of power. The upgraded version of the product, consisting of an NCM battery and an NCM self-forming anode battery, enables a capacity of more than 180kWh in sedans with a 3m wheelbase, breaking through the 1,500km pure electric range barrier.

CATL's Freevoy Dual-Power EV Battery puts users' needs at its center, enabling different chemical systems to collaborate and complement each other and overcoming the technical bottlenecks that prevent single chemical systems from adapting to all scenarios. This makes customized battery performance possible across different cost segments and application scenarios.

The innovative architecture from dual power to multi power will not be limited to the field of electric passenger vehicles, but will also be implemented in all fields such as electric buses, heavy-duty trucks, airplanes, and ships, as well as industrial and commercial applications, accelerating the industrialization of renewable energy across all scenarios. At the same time, it will also accelerate the application process of cutting-edge technologies such as solid-state batteries.

Second-Generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery

CATL launched its Shenxing 4C Superfast Charging Battery in 2023. The second-generation Shenxing is an LFP battery featuring both an 800km range and a 12C peak charging rate. With a peak charging power of 1.3mW, it achieves 2.5km of range per second of charging, virtually eliminating the frustration of waiting. In low-temperature environments of -10°C, the second-generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery can charge from 5% to 80% SOC in just 15 minutes, 100% faster than the industry's highest current charging level.

Additionally, CATL's second-generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery provides robust power across all temperature ranges and states of charge. Even in a low-charge state, it maintains an output power of 830kW. In the demanding environment of -10°C with low charge, it can still easily meet the power requirements for 0 to 100km/h acceleration.