CATL announced the new battery pack with chemistry called lithium iron phosphate Shenxing Plus, which expands the performance of the previous Shenxing in terms of charge density and charging speed. The new battery pack, CATL promises, is capable of recharging with a maximum power equal to 4C, i.e. the power ideally needed to charge four times the nominal capacity of the battery in one hour (for a 50 kWh battery, it would correspond to maximum charging power of 200 kW). In more understandable terms, according to CATL the new battery pack is capable of charging up to 600 km of travel in 10 minutes, or 1 km per second, times usually the prerogative of batteries with NMC chemistry. According to CATL, the new battery pack will be able to offer up to 1000 km of autonomy according to the Chinese combined cycle CLTC, thanks to the increase in energy density.
LFP batteries, compared to those based on nickel, manganese and cobalt, have advantages such as a lower cost, less dependence on critical materials such as cobalt, and greater longevity, but on the other hand they usually offer a lower energy density for the same weight, which essentially translates into heavier batteries with the same charging capacity compared to NMC ones. Thanks to a particular 3D honeycomb structure for the anode, a granular nano-particle composition for the cathode and the development of a new monolithic shell for the cells which has allowed for enormous optimization of the spaces, CATL has announced that it is managed to significantly increase the energy density of its LFP batteries, reaching a value of 205 Wh/kg, a record for this technology. It is the first time that the 200 Wh/kg threshold has been exceeded with this technology, which normally offers charge densities of up to 150 Wh/kg. Competitor BYD, which is about to launch the second generation of Blade batteries, aims to offer a density of 190 Wh/kg.
During the presentation, CATL did not specify when the new battery will enter mass production. The previous Shenxing version, which found use in cars such as the Zeekr 01 as shown during the presentation, was announced last August, to leave the factories by the end of 2023.
