New CATL EV battery can add 320 miles in five minutes

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer CATL has developed a new battery that supports 1.3 megawatt charging.

The Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery battery is capable of adding enough power to drive for 320 miles in just five minutes.

It charges at a maximum rate of 1.3mW - adding 1.5 miles of range per second, in peak conditions.

In low temperature environments, the battery can still achieve a 5% - 80% charge in 15 minutes.

The announcement follows the unveiling of BYD's megawatt charging system.

CATL is also developing a range of dual power batteries that combined two technology types. This enables the battery pack to mitigate the limitations of one chemical system by drawing on the benefits of another. The battery can intuitively regulate the allocation strategy of two energy zones based on the vehicle's driving status and users' driving habits.

For example, by combining its sodium-ion Naxtra battery with its LFP self-forming anode battery, CATL can fully utilise the low-temperature performance of sodium-ion technology to provide users with minimal degradation in cold conditions while delivering the extended range associated with LFP technology.

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Using dual power technology, CATL is able to achieve a battery capacity of up to 180kWh in a standard-size saloon car. This provides a range of more than 900 miles, according to the company.