New CATL battery tech can charge an EV pack to 80% in five minutes and offer '16 years of service life'

A 500-mile range in five minutes, that’s what the new electric vehicle battery charging tech of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) promises. Besides the ultrafast charging abilities of its innovative cell-to-pack batteries, CATL also prides itself in their “16 years of service life.”

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Recently, the world’s biggest EV battery maker CATL unveiled its new Kirin battery that allows 10%-80% charge in 10 minutes. Its innovative cell-to-pack technology allows for the highest volume utilization in the industry and offers 13% more capacity than Tesla’s 4680 cells in the same footprint and chemistry. At a conference call with investors, however, CATL hinted that it can do one better, and has a charging technology lined up that can fill an electric vehicle battery to 80% in just five minutes.

Now, it’s not clear if the 5-minutes-to-80 promise is achievable with CATL’s current 800V charging system or it will require new chargers, but the technology is already listed on the company’s website, so we should know more about it soon. CATL also lists that despite the ultrafast charging abilities, its new packs can withstand the test of time and their “service life can reach 16 years or 2 million km.” The Kirin battery that can take a 10 minute charge to hit 80% will be in mass production next year and CATL has a number of EV makers lined up for it.

The Kirin pack “increases the heat transfer area by four times, cuts thermal control time in half, and supports a hot start in 5 minutes and fast charging in 10 minutes,” claims CATL, so it may be offering more thermal leeway to try and up the charging rate than current EV batteries. Since the battery offers a 620-mile range “in a breeze,” a 5 minute charge would give you nearly 500 miles of range and this only confirms how far ahead battery companies in China are in terms of charging speeds.

One owner of a Texas-made Tesla Model Y with the new 4680 battery pack, for instance, reported that it took them a bit less than an hour to top it up to 97%. CATL’s upcoming fast-charge technology has the potential to cut that charging time significantly which would be welcome news for anyone who has ever been lining up at a Supercharger queue waiting for people to top up their batteries to 80% and drive away.

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