World’s largest battery manufacturer, CATL has made a very important discovery and has announced a new type of “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg. The company says will go into mass production this year.
“The launch of condensed batteries will usher in an era of universal electrification of sea, land and air transportation, open up more possibilities of the development of the industry, and promote the achieving of the global carbon neutrality goals at an earlier date,” the company said in a presentation at Auto Shanghai on Thursday.
CATL’s new battery comes with nearly double the energy intensity of Tesla’s 4680 cells. The battery incorporates various innovative technologies, including high-energy-density cathode materials, advanced anode materials, separators, and manufacturing processes.
It offers excellent charge and discharge performance and safety. This breakthrough technology overcomes previous limitations in battery development and paves the way for a new era of electrification focused on safety and lightweight.
CATL is collaborating with partners to develop electric passenger aircraft, adhering to aviation-grade safety and quality standards. Additionally, CATL plans to launch an automotive-grade version of the condensed battery, expected to enter mass production later this year.
In 2020 Elon Musk said, “Electric flight starts to get interesting once you hit 400wh/kg”. At the time he predicted that this would become possible by 2023.
The battery’s announcement this week hence completely confirms Musk’s foresight that this level of energy density would be possible by now.
“With further development, we expect our new design for the lithium-air battery to also reach a record energy density of 1200 watt-hours per kilogram,” said Argonne scientist Larry Curtiss. ?“That is nearly four times better than lithium-ion batteries.”
Although there have been numerous high-density battery breakthroughs recently none of them have made it close to being available commercially and reaching mass production. This is, of course, provided that they achieve it.