CATL Unveils New Qilin EV Battery with 1,000km Range

Chinese battery manufacturing giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., better known as CATL has unveiled the third generation of its cell-to-pack (CTP) battery technology which the company claims can deliver “1,000 km in a breeze”, and boasts fast charging in just 10 minutes.

CATL claims its latest EV battery called ‘Qilin’, has a record-breaking volume utilization efficiency of 72% and an energy density of up to 255 Wh/kg (watt-hours per kilogram) – achieving “the highest integration level worldwide so far”. Named after a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, the Qilin battery is capable of delivering a range of 1,000 kilometers, and offers breakthroughs in the core process, algorithm, and materials.

As CATL’s third-generation CTP battery, Qilin incorporates liquid cooling to increase the heat transfer area by four times, cutting thermal control time in half and supporting a hot start in 5 minutes and fast charging in only 10 minutes. This cooling structure also allows the cell to rapidly cool down in extreme circumstances, helping to prevent abnormal thermal conduction among the cells and achieving thermal stability and safety for all the battery’s chemical systems, making it compatible with materials with higher energy density.

This makes the Qilin battery safer and more durable than many existing battery cells. The Qilin is also 13% more powerful than Tesla’s upcoming new 4680 battery technology, and has the longest range offered by any mainstream manufacturer yet.