An electric car battery with a range of 1,000 km gets better

CATL, the world leader in batteries, has introduced the evolution of its two flagship batteries: Qilin and Shenxing. On the program: 1,000 km range with ultra powerful motors and recharging in 10 minutes. Bonus: The brand implicitly advertises that the Xiaomi SU7 will be the first to benefit from it. Here’s what to expect.

Xiaomi seems to have succeeded in creating a conversation around its first electric car, the SU7. His presentation at the end of 2023 gave us the first figures (impressive, by the way), but we were still missing a lot of information.

The battery, in particular, was a topic that Xiaomi paid little attention to. Fortunately, CATL, the world leader in electric car batteries, has just presented Weibo Improvements to its two flagship products, the Kirin and Shanks, and suggests that the SU7 will be the first to benefit from them.

Some developments

It is important to note that these two batteries have already been marketed, and the Zeekr 001 benefits from its extensive update. But Xiaomi SU7 should benefit the new generation.

Regarding Shenzhen, CATL has announced a more than 10% increase in its energy density, bringing the maximum autonomy on the Chinese CLTC cycle to 800 km (i.e. approximately 715 km). WLTP cycle, more realistic). Likewise, the yield increased to 77.8% pure.

Killeen, for its part, impresses with its maximum discharge power, which has increased to 1,000 hp (enough for a power engine of the same power), keeping priority over safety. According to the brand, the size of the heat dissipation zone is multiplied by four, which makes it possible to promise the absence of heat propagation, even at 55 ° C.

Brand ends his Weibo post with wisdom “First production model to be announced this evening (March 28, 2024, editor’s note)”

To which the Xiaomi Auto account replied: “Tonight Malishu”. Then a nice clue.

Remarkable performance

In any case, these two packs are similar on many points. They do not share the same chemistry, namely LFP (Lithium-Iron-Phosphate) for Shenxing and NMC for Qilin, but they do share an 800 volt architecture, capable of promising express recharging: Xiaomi announces 200 kilometers of recovery in 5 minutes and Even 510 km in 15 minutes.

On the chassis side, this pack will be of the CTB type, for “Cell to Body” ; Realize that the battery is an integral part of the chassis, which is great for limiting the size and bulk (especially in height) of the pack, but which can cause problems in case of repairs.

Pushing the technology to the limit, the SU7’s Modena platform can accommodate a battery with a capacity of up to 150 kWh, enough to tickle 1,250 km of CLTC autonomy on a single charge. Another 132 kWh pack would be more feasible, and the CLTC could reach the magic bar of 1,000 km of autonomy.

Huge packs for autonomy that are just as huge… and which are not necessary: ​​according to Xiaomi’s boss, the “basic” version of the SU7, equipped with a battery of 73.6 kWh, can already travel 495. km on the motorway in real conditions, which combined with express charging, makes already long journeys quite transparent.

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