When lithium batteries became widely available, an avalanche of technological innovation began. This is mainly because it can hold significantly more energy by weight than other modern chemicals. Touchscreen smartphones, drones, all-day laptops, long-range electric vehicles, and battery-powered first-generation aircraft are some of the results.
But storing more energy is always a good thing. It can make things last longer or be lighter. Manufacturers have raced to raise the bar with next-generation battery technology. One of the key metrics for the aviation industry is specific energy (the amount of energy stored per kilogram of battery), and CATL says it is ready to set a new standard.
The lithium-based condensed battery was unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show on Wednesday, with CATL claiming the blockbuster’s energy density to be “up to 500 Wh/kg.” The densest cell I’ve seen so far is from Amprius, where he shipped batteries at 450 Wh/kg over a year ago. Meanwhile, his 4680 battery cells in Tesla’s Model Y measure at around 244 Wh/kg.
According to CATL, the new battery features innovations in “ultra-high energy density cathode materials, revolutionary anode materials, separators, and manufacturing processes,” and uses “highly conductive, biomimetic condensed-state electrolytes to , can build a micron-level self-adaptive net structure, which adjusts the interaction force between chains to improve performance, efficiency and stability.
Other than specific energy banner figures, the company offers little at the moment. It is not yet known what these cells will offer, for example in terms of volumetric energy density or power density. CATL says it offers “excellent charge/discharge performance and excellent safety performance.”
CATL
The company says it is already partnering with electric aircraft companies to meet aviation-grade safety and quality standards. If the cell can provide enough power for his VTOL operations, obviously this will be of great interest to anyone developing an eVTOL aircraft. But electric fixed-wing airliners can also get impressive range gains from this technology.
CATL says it can “achieve mass production of condensed batteries in a short period of time” and indeed expects to have an automotive-grade version of this battery in mass production by the end of the year, but we I don’t know what specific energy figures to expect from it.
Over the past five years we’ve seen a number of next-generation battery technologies promising huge density numbers, but far fewer reaching production stage. I’m excited to hear that it’s likely to be deployed in .
Source: CATL
