Breakthrough in EV charging: CATL finds Battery technology more efficient in cold weather

Chinese battery manufacturer CATL said on Thursday that it has created new lithium-ion battery materials that would significantly increase the charging efficiency of

electric vehicles

The world's largest battery supplier, CATL, has created new electrolyte materials that might significantly increase the charging efficiency of existing lithium-ion battery designs, according to Wu Kai, the company's top scientist, who spoke at a symposium in Shanghai.

Wu didn't go into specifics on how CATL has managed to increase battery performance. He claimed that the new electrolyte may enhance efficiency by 50% at minus 20 degrees Celsius and by 43% at temperatures closer to normal.

Winter weather is a difficulty for EVs since the cold delays processes in the electrolyte solution, which are necessary to transfer a charge between the two electrodes of the battery. The additional work required by the battery to heat an EV in cold weather reduces the range even further.

This year, he said, CATL will be ready to mass-build a battery with a 400-kilometre driving range and a 10-minute charge.

For the same driving range as its next objective, the business wants to reduce that charge time to five to seven minutes, he added. Solid-state batteries with more power and a longer range are being developed quickly by automakers and certain suppliers. These batteries, which are still in prototype, are anticipated to be pricey for many years.

Toyota said last month that it has solved a problem with the longevity of solid-state batteries, opening the door to manufacturing as early as 2027. It claimed that it would be able to give a charging time of 10 minutes or less and cut the price and weight of those batteries in half.

Wu declared that he did not believe the claims of cost savings and the readiness of solid-state batteries for mass manufacturing. Moreover, Wu responded to a query by saying, “What I know for sure is that no one in the industry today is able to produce solid-state batteries in large quantities. They say they can cut prices in half, which is fantastic and would be tremendously disruptive, but I wonder against what baseline they are measuring.”