Chinese battery
company Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd, or as it is more commonly known,
CATL, is the biggest in the world. Currently, it is moving to mass produce its
fifth-generation lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells. The benefits of the
upgrade are higher energy density and longer cycle life. Durability and costs
continue to improve.
Interesting Engineering
writers Kaif Shaikh and Bojan Stojkovski have written about CATL’s battery
innovations. The company works with multiple battery chemistries and has
developed advanced manufacturing capabilities. It has brands in production that
focus on different battery markets and that address different EV shortcomings.
Shaikh writes about CATL’s Super Tech Day in May:
“In one morning, CATL rolled out three production-ready
technologies—Naxtra sodium-ion cells, the Freevoy dual-power pack, and a
second-generation Shenxing super-fast-charging battery—each precisely aimed at
easing the main pain points of EV ownership: cold-weather performance, range
anxiety, charge time, weight, and safety.”
Naxtra, the company’s
sodium-ion battery, replaces lithium with abundant and cheap sodium. Its
passenger-vehicle battery has the highest specific energy reported for any
sodium-ion cell and a range of about 310 miles (500 km), even at extremely low
temperatures. Sodium is much safer than lithium, reducing the risk of thermal
runaway. They also sell “a 24-V heavy-duty ‘start-stop’ version for big rigs
and buses that face brutal duty cycles and temperature swings.” Sodium
could replace LFP batteries in budget cars and fleet vehicles, opening the door
for some vehicle cost reductions.
CATL’s Freevoy brand is a
dual-powered battery pack that allows switching from different battery
chemistry packs, supporting niche uses. One might call it a hybrid system. One
battery section might be used for cruising, and the other optimized for power
density or low-temperature resilience.
“CATL claims up to 60% higher volumetric energy density
and 50% higher gravimetric density than today’s mainstream packs. Translation:
more miles from the same package or a smaller, lighter pack for the same range.”
Hybridization is
chemistry-agnostic. Combinations include sodium + LFP for
cold-climate commuting, LFP + LFP that pairs the new anode
with CATL’s ultra-fast Shenxing LFP cell to deliver about 620 miles of range,
and NCM + LFP NCM + NCM, which offers sporting power and a massive
range of 930 miles (1500 km).
The company’s Shenxing Gen 2
LFP offers 10-minute charging from 5% to 80% at most temperatures. It also
offers 500 miles of range.
Shaikh says the company is “moving
beyond incremental gains toward architecture-level change.”
He goes on to point out some
significant obstacles to adopting CATL’s battery innovations in the U.S.
“While CATL supplies Tesla’s Shanghai plant and has
licensed its technology to Ford for a planned U.S. battery factory, direct
integration into U.S. assembly lines remains complicated due to tariffs,
geopolitical scrutiny, and evolving domestic content requirements under the
Inflation Reduction Act.”
“The remaining hurdle is regulatory: U.S. safety
agencies will want real-world abuse-testing data, and the national charging
network must upgrade to deliver megawatt-level currents.”
CATL also recently unveiled a
new EV battery for Europe with extended range and improved safety. The European
options are LFP options, similar to the ones offered elsewhere. The company
appears to be offering regional variants to solve regional problems due to
temperature, range needs, and other factors.
Interesting Engineering
writer Bojan Stojkovski noted:
“CATL says its research into all-solid-state batteries
ranks among the most advanced globally, pointing to a broad innovation pipeline
beyond current chemistries.”
He also notes that so
far in 2025, CATL accounted for 36.6% of global battery installations.
“In China, CATL recorded 36.14 gigawatt-hours of
installed EV battery capacity in October, representing 43 percent of the
domestic market. The breakdown by chemistry indicates that ternary lithium
batteries made up 72.79 percent of its installations during the month, while
LFP batteries represented 35.7 percent.”
“CATL’s founder and CEO Robin Zeng recently outlined
that CATL supplied about 120 gigawatt-hours of lithium batteries out of China’s
nearly 200 GWh of exports during the first three quarters of the year.”
“Over the past decade, the company has invested more
than $11 billion in R&D, with roughly $2.1 billion invested in the first
three quarters of this year alone. Today, more than 20 million new energy
vehicles (NEVs) worldwide use CATL batteries, helping reduce CO₂ emissions by
an estimated 15.4 million US short tons annually.”
The company is also moving
into other applications of electric transport, including commercial vehicles,
electric vessels, and electric aircraft. Its Tectrans series is a favorite for
all-electric heavy-duty trucks. CATL batteries power nearly 900 electric
vessels. It is also working on electric propulsion utilizing its two-ton eVTOL,
which has successfully completed multiple test flights.
One important set of
questions is perhaps for U.S. companies. How do we also reap these innovations?
Through technology licensing? Direct purchasing? Developing domestic versions?
How should regulatory barriers be addressed?
References:
CATL’s
5th-gen sodium-ion battery triumphs over lithium’s low-temperature weakness. Bojan
Stojkovski. Interesting Engineering. November 17, 2025. CATL’s
5th-gen sodium-ion battery triumphs over lithium’s low-temperature weakness
China’s
CATL unveils new EV battery for Europe with extended range, high safety.
Kaif Shaikh. Interesting
Engineering. September 8, 2025. China's
CATL unveils new EV battery for Europe with extended range
Naxtra,
Freevoy, Shenxing: CATL’s triple tech play to eclipse gasoline cars: Range
anxiety, winter sluggishness, and hour-long charging stops, the hat-trick of EV
complaints may soon vanish thanks to CATL’s trio of next-gen technologies. Kaif
Shaikh. Interesting Engineering. May 25, 2025. CATL
unveils three key tech to draw the road map for the next-gen EVs
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