At the ongoing Frankfurt Motor Show, CATL showcased several core technologies, including a low-cost CTP highly integrated power lithium battery development platform, super-fast charging technology, ultra-long-life batteries, and battery self-heating & BMS technology, representing the technological level of Chinese battery companies in the field of power lithium battery technology.
Let's take a closer look at CATL's cutting-edge technologies in the field of power lithium batteries.
1. CTP High-Integration Power Lithium Battery Development Platform (CellToPack)
Currently, battery companies and automakers both domestically and internationally generally adopt a battery pack assembly method that goes from individual cells to modules to battery packs. This multi-level assembly method ensures battery safety, but it sacrifices the battery pack's space utilization rate and energy density.
In response, CATL launched its new CTP (CellToPack) high-integration power lithium battery development platform at the exhibition, which integrates the cells directly into the battery pack.
CATL claims that by eliminating the battery module assembly step, CTP battery packs have a 15%-20% higher volume utilization rate, a 40% reduction in the number of battery pack components, and a 50% increase in production efficiency compared to traditional battery packs, which will significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of power lithium batteries.
Meanwhile, thanks to the simplification of its internal structure, the energy density of CTP battery packs is 10%-15% higher than that of traditional battery packs. The average energy density of traditional battery packs is 180Wh/kg, while the energy density of CTP battery packs can reach over 200Wh/kg.
Currently, CATL has obtained more than 70 core CTP patents, and it is expected that more new technologies will be applied to CTP battery packs in the future to ensure product safety.
Industry insiders point out that eliminating modules in power lithium batteries has positive effects on optimizing battery pack space utilization, increasing energy density, and reducing costs. It is more suitable for standard battery boxes and helps automakers and battery companies reduce manufacturing costs, and is expected to become one of the mainstream technologies for power lithium batteries in the future.
Currently, in addition to CATL, battery companies including SVOLT Energy and BYD are also developing CTP technology, and it is expected that more battery companies will launch CTP batteries in the future.
2. Super-fast charging technology
Despite the continuous improvement in the energy density of power lithium batteries in recent years, the problems of short driving range and long charging time of electric vehicles have not been solved. Fast charging technology has become a feasible way to solve the problem of range anxiety.
In response, CATL has tailored super-fast charging products to meet market demands. CATL's super-fast charging battery can increase the battery's state of charge (SOC) from 8% to 80% in just 15 minutes. For some customized needs, CATL has also developed a turbo-charging solution that can charge the battery to 80% in 9 minutes.
It is understood that CATL's fast charging technology employs a constant potential closed-loop control algorithm. The core of this algorithm is based on the internal polarization state of the battery. The principle is based on an electrochemical model, which maximizes the input charging current by controlling the anode potential to remain consistently above the lithium plating potential threshold. The input current affects the anode potential, thus forming a closed-loop control that minimizes battery charging time.
It is worth noting that at the 2018 Ningde Electric Vehicle High-Power Charging Pilot Symposium, CATL demonstrated the charging process of its EnerSpeedy super lithium iron phosphate battery, which uses a "super lithium iron phosphate + high energy density fast-charging graphite" system. This product is a 60Ah super lithium iron phosphate battery that can be charged at 5C. The demonstration process took 7 minutes and 12 seconds to complete the charge from 20% to 80%, and only 13 minutes and 8 seconds to charge from 20% to 100%.
3. Ultra-long lifespan battery
In addition to low energy density and long charging time, the rapid degradation of lithium-ion battery capacity has also become an important reason hindering the further growth of the electric vehicle market, while increasing the usage costs for consumers.
In response to this, and to prevent additional costs and inconvenience caused by battery replacement, CATL has developed battery products that match the lifespan of the entire vehicle, based on different user scenarios.
For everyday private cars, CATL's ultra-long-life batteries can meet driving needs for more than 8 years; for commercial vehicles, it supplies long-life batteries that can operate for 6 years or 600,000 kilometers, truly achieving worry-free operation throughout the product's entire lifecycle. These long-life batteries can also meet diverse application scenarios such as V2G and secondary use, thereby improving the economic efficiency of electric vehicles.
4. Battery self-heating & BMS technology
Power lithium batteries have very high requirements for temperature conditions; excessively low temperatures in winter can affect the battery's range. As battery technology continues to improve, the temperature range in which they maintain optimal operating conditions is becoming wider and wider.
CATL's self-heating technology uses the BMS (Battery Management System) to identify battery status and formulate a rapid heating control strategy, which can raise the battery temperature from -20°C to 10°C within 15 minutes, increasing charging capacity by 5 times and discharging capacity by 7 times, thereby extending battery life.
At the same time, CATL has established a complete safety assurance system covering product design, cell manufacturing, system integration, BMS management, after-sales service, and end-of-life recycling to comprehensively ensure the safety of power lithium batteries.
