CATL truck battery matches gas stops yet lasts over 600,000 miles

CATL keeps shortening the charging time of vehicles equipped with its batteries with every new generation, aiming to bridge the gap between driving an EV and stopping for gas.

Its new Tianxing (Tectrans) II battery is the first time that pitch starts to sound real for light commercial vehicles like delivery trucks or vans, where turnaround speed is of paramount importance. With an 8C charging rate, the new battery goes from 20% to 80% in 6 minutes and 48 seconds, and a complete charge takes under nine minutes.

That's squarely in the window most drivers spend at a fuel pump, and it puts CATL's commercial lineup within touching distance of the one experience EVs have never quite matched: pulling in, filling up, and pulling out as quickly as stopping for gas but not a coffee, too.

This isn't CATL's first swing at that goal, as its Shenxing III already pushed passenger EVs toward gas refuel speeds earlier this year, using ultra-low internal resistance to shave charging times down. Where the Shenxing III chases raw speed with an internal resistance as low as 0.25 milliohms for passenger cars, however, the Tectrans II adjusts the chemistry to be suitable for fleets, where a truck sitting idle costs money every minute. The difference appears after the fast charge as CATL pairs the 7-minute charging speed with a 10-year, one-million-kilometer warranty.

CATL says that it managed to achieve such battery longevity despite the high mileage and flash charging by roughly halving cell resistance versus the industry average and reworking the graphite interface to slow lithium loss. Even in temperatures as low as -20°C (-4°F), charging time for delivery trucks would only slow down by about two and a half minutes.

There are several battery technologies now whose charging speeds can match a gas station stop, but few claim many thousands of charge cycles over more than 600,000 miles with generous capacity retention, which makes all the difference for commercial fleets. Besides the batteries, CATL is also building a global rapid charging network that can take advantage of their chemistry. CATL also signed an agreement with J&T for the green transition of the logistics sector with flash-charging and battery swap stations along major logistics routes.

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