CATL’s 400 km-range PHEV battery brushes aside range anxiety

Chinese CATL, the world’s biggest battery maker, has presented a new type of battery for extended range (EREV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) to cure the prevalent ‘range anxiety’ of people reluctant to go fully electric. It promises a CLTC range of 400 km and 4C fast charging or 280 km in 10 minutes.

The company claims that Freevoy frees drivers from the constant need to charge, a common drawback of existing plug-in hybrid vehicles. It offers the convenience of one charge to power an entire week’s commute.

Three times the current PHEV range

Although the Chinese CLTC standard is generally 20 to 25% more ‘favorable’ than the European standard, it still means 300 km or three times more range than plug-in hybrids today. In this case, one can question whether a cheaper, fully electric BEV would be the more logical choice.

However, CATL is giving in to a general tendency in China, but also in Europe, these days, that people are reluctant to go fully electric as ‘range anxiety’ is still one of the major drawbacks.

Rush on hybrid models

According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), in the first nine months of this year, sales of hybrid models in China amounted to 3 million vehicles, up 78.11 percent year over year.

According to ACEA figures, 32.8% of hybrids (HEVs) were sold in Europe during that period, more than gasoline cars (29.8%) and 6.8% of PHEVs. In Belgium, PHEVs still accounted for 11.3%, HEVs 9.3%, and fully electric BEVs 38.3%. But that’s primarily due to company car sales, as private buyers of BEVs are a small minority.

Beating the West again

So, how did the Chinese manage to give a PHEV an electric range comparable with today’s entry-level BEVs? CATL says the Freevoy battery has surface modification technology for the cathode material, coupled with an innovative high-voltage electrolyte formulation, to create a nano protective layer.

Formation is a critical last step in battery manufacturing, and just a month ago, researchers from the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center at Californian Stanford University found that using high currents for the first charging after the battery’s production can improve its lifespan by 50 to 70%. Apparently, the Chinese, with CATL, were already one step ahead again.

Typically, battery makers today use low currents at the first charge to stabilize the battery materials inside. By using high voltage in a shorter cycle, more lithium is ‘lost’, but it forms a protective layer on the surface of the negative electrode.

Cheaper and better performing

That makes the process much cheaper, but it also enhances the transport efficiency of lithium ions – thus better performance – and gives the battery a longer lifespan. CATL also used sodium-ion battery technology in the Freevoy to overcome the burden of driving an EV and charging it at very low temperatures.

The battery can be used in frigid environments down to -40 degrees Celsius, can still be charged at -30 degrees Celsius, and maintains a seamless driving experience comparable to average temperatures, even at -20 degrees. CATL said it is a five percent improvement in the low-temperature battery range.

By implementing CATL’s new battery management system, the company claims to improve the power performance of hybrid vehicles by 20%. Chinese brands like Li Auto, Avatr, Deepal, Nevo, and Neta have already used the Freevoy battery, CATL says. By 2025, nearly 30 hybrid models from brands including Geely, Chery, GAC, and Voyah will be equipped with the battery pack.