CATL releases new supercharger battery products, and the market is rising again

Preface:

In order to further expand the market space in the field of new energy vehicles , some key pain points must be solved.

First, the new energy vehicle sector faces problems such as false battery life ratings, long charging times, uneven distribution of charging piles, and reduced battery life in winter, which seriously affect the user experience of new energy users.

Secondly, for pure electric vehicles to achieve wider popularization, challenges such as "charging time" and "charging convenience" must be overcome.

The challenges of terminal demand put forward higher requirements on the battery side.

CATL Releases Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery New Product

At the 2024 Beijing International Auto Show, CATL officially released its new lithium iron phosphate battery, the Shenxing PLUS, which is the world's first battery that can meet both 1,000 kilometers of driving range and 4C ultra-fast charging capabilities .

It only took eight months from the launch of the Shenxing supercharger battery in August 2023 to the release of Shenxing PLUS.

According to official news released by CATL, the peak charging power of the Shenxing PLUS battery can exceed 700kW, which is 4 to 6 times higher than the national standard fast charging technology.

It only takes 10 minutes of charging to replenish the vehicle's range of 600 kilometers, a speed comparable to the refueling time of traditional fuel vehicles.

Under extreme weather conditions, such as in the Mohe area, the charging speed of the Shenxing PLUS battery is twice as fast as ordinary fast charging technology.

At the same time, in low temperature environments, the battery's output performance remains consistent with that at normal temperature, effectively solving the problem of battery performance degradation in winter.

Its core advantages lie in two major breakthroughs: increased energy density and improved ultra-fast charging capabilities.

For the positive electrode, particle grading technology is used to achieve ultra-high compaction density through precise layout of nanoparticles.

In the negative electrode, the independently developed three-dimensional honeycomb material is used , which not only improves the energy density of the negative electrode, but also effectively controls the volume expansion during the charging and discharging process.

The battery cell structure design adopts an integrated shell structure, which significantly improves the space utilization inside the battery cell and brings the battery cell energy density of the Shenxing PLUS to a new height.

Compared with the energy density of conventional iron phosphate lithium batteries of about 140Wh/kg, the energy density of the battery cell has been successfully increased to 205Wh/kg, making it possible for the vehicle's range to exceed 1,000 kilometers.

In order to achieve a leap in charging speed, Shenxing PLUS uses advanced technologies such as fast ion conductor coating, transition metal doping, and new nano-coating to optimize the energy transmission efficiency between positive and negative electrode materials.

At the same time, by expanding the pole current flow area and improving the current flow capacity, rapid heat dissipation and temperature control are ensured during high-current charging.

Continue to fight with the iron phosphate lithium battery route

Since the birth of lithium iron phosphate and ternary battery technology routes, the two have shown an alternating upward trend in market position.

After 2017, influenced by the subsidy policy, ternary batteries gradually took a dominant position in the field of new energy vehicles, which had a profound impact on the power battery market structure.

However, the rise and fall of ternary batteries are closely related to subsidy policies.

When the subsidy policy gradually declined in 2019, lithium iron phosphate batteries regained market favor.

Tesla , BYD , Xiaopeng and other companies have launched models equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries, resulting in a continuous increase in the installed capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

By 2021, the market share of lithium iron phosphate batteries reached 51%, successfully surpassing ternary batteries.

In the international market, although ternary batteries have long dominated, overseas markets have recently begun to show interest in lithium iron phosphate batteries.

The share of lithium iron phosphate batteries in the international market is expected to increase significantly, further proving its market potential.

Despite this, lithium iron phosphate batteries, as one of the current mainstream technology routes in the world, still need to be continuously updated to meet market demand.

Currently, the energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries is generally between 100Wh/kg and 160Wh/kg, while the energy density of ternary battery packs is between 150Wh/kg and 260Wh/kg.

Compared with ternary batteries, the energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries still needs to be improved.

However, the CATL's Shenxing PLUS battery has made a new breakthrough in energy density, reaching 205Wh/kg, once again breaking the record for lithium iron phosphate batteries.

CATL Passenger cars Chief CTO Gao Huan said that CATL will continue to cooperate with many car companies this year to launch more than 50 new cars equipped with Shenxing batteries. These partners include GAC, Avita, Nezha, Polar Fox, Lantu, etc.

To sum up, the Shenxing PLUS battery released by CATL at this auto show may indicate that the company's development strategy this year will focus more on stability and pragmatism.

Improving battery performance to meet market demand and thus achieving the goal of cost reduction is a wise choice for CATL in its pursuit of technological innovation and market competitiveness.

Ending: Trying to break through in the low-cost market

According to relevant information, the current mainstream power batteries in the market mainly include two categories: ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries.

According to previous analysis by domestic authoritative organization Gaogong Lithium Battery, with the intensification of competition in the downstream automobile market, especially the advancement of price wars, the prices of vehicles powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries have continued to decline, and the scope of competition with traditional fuel vehicles has gradually expanded.

Taking plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) as an example, their prices have dropped below 100,000 yuan, making the competition between electric vehicles and fuel vehicles extend to the market range of 50,000 to 150,000 yuan, in which lithium iron phosphate batteries occupy a dominant position.

Statistics from March 2024 show that the overall installed share of CATL batteries has dropped sharply from 55.2% in February to 45%, a drop of more than 10 percentage points.

At the same time, BYD's overall battery installation share rebounded from 17.8% in February to 26.8%, an increase of 9 percentage points.

In the ternary power battery installation market, CATL maintained its leading position with a market share of 67.3%. In the lithium iron phosphate battery installation market, CATL's market share was 34.5%, a sharp drop of 9.2 percentage points from February.

At the same time, BYD ranked first in the lithium iron phosphate battery market with a market share of 39.3%, up 10.6 percentage points from February.

It can be seen that CATL is seeking to make greater breakthroughs in the low-cost lithium iron phosphate battery market with the further promotion of the Shenxing battery and Shenxing PLUS.