CATL, the world’s largest battery maker, unveiled its latest technology for the European market at the world’s largest auto expo, IAA Munich, on Monday.
The new system, called Shenxing Pro, promises to combine extremely long driving range with lightning-fast charging times. The company also claims the batteries will degrade very little over years of heavy use. These promises sound impressive, but their real-world performance will matter more than any launch event.
The Munich debut highlights a broader push. Chinese manufacturers want a stronger position in Europe’s car market, and CATL is leading that charge.
EV makers from China have already taken market share from Volkswagen and Porsche in their home country. They are now exporting aggressively to Europe, offering cheaper models and faster innovation. CATL’s decision to design two lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery packs for European drivers shows how seriously it takes the region.
Furthermore, CATL has split its offering into two packs. The “Super Long Life & Long Range Battery” emphasizes durability and driving distance.
The “Super-Fast Charging Battery” prioritizes time saved at the plug. These names lack subtlety but leave no doubt about the company’s focus. On paper, both packs look like breakthroughs.
The long-range battery holds 122 kilowatt-hours of energy. CATL says this could deliver 470 miles of range under Europe’s WLTP test cycle.
That number depends on the vehicle, since heavy or inefficient models consume more energy. LFP batteries generally last longer than high-nickel cells, but they carry more weight and lower energy density. Those traits make CATL’s claims ambitious.
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Charging times are greatly improved
Charging times, however, are easier to evaluate.
The long-range pack can charge from 10 to 80 per cent in just 15 minutes. That equals 85 kWh of usable energy, about the size of a full pack in a typical midsized crossover.
In an energy intense vehicle that means 170 miles of added range. In an efficient sedan, it could stretch to 250 miles or more. Either way, the result is strong for a quarter-hour stop.
Durability also looks promising. CATL says the pack should lose only 9 per cent capacity after 200,000 kilometers of driving. The company also projects 70 per cent retention over 1 million kilometers and 10,000 cycles. Those figures, if accurate, could reassure buyers worried about costly battery replacements.
The second product, the “Super-Fast Charging Battery,” aims to cut downtime further. Its 110-kWh capacity can leap from 10 to 80 per cent in just 10 minutes. CATL claims this equals 478 kilometers of WLTP range added in that span. Converted to U.S. standards, that is about 230 miles of EPA range. This would surpass most vehicles now sold in America.
The technology relies partly on cell design. CATL has arranged “Wave” cells directly into the pack, skipping traditional modules. This Lego-style method allows more active material in the same space. Denser packing matters for LFP batteries, which lag behind nickel-based chemistries in energy per kilogram. However, CATL did not release actual density numbers for Shenxing Pro.
What the company did share was its European investment. CATL has poured USD$12.9 billion dollars into the region, funding new plants in Hungary, Germany and Spain. It wants to build a full ecosystem in Europe that covers raw materials, battery manufacturing, remanufacturing, and recycling.
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