Advancements in battery technology are accelerating rapidly. Earlier this year, BYD introduced its flash charging technology with 1.5 MW fast chargers, claiming its latest LFP Blade battery can charge from 10 to 97 percent in just 9 minutes. Notably, even in temperatures as low as -30ºC, the battery requires only three additional minutes to achieve the same charge, a significant benefit for drivers in cold climates.
The rivalry between BYD and CATL remains intense, with both companies striving to outdo each other. On April 21, 2026, after its Super Technology Day, CATL announced several innovations: the third generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery, the third generation Qilin Battery, the Qilin Condensed Battery, the second generation Freevoy Super Hybrid Battery, the latest Naxtra Sodium-ion Battery, and a fully integrated supercharging and battery-swapping solution. According to CATL, these advancements are designed to meet diverse mobility needs across various scenarios.
The headline announcement is that the new Shenxing Superfast battery can charge from 10 to 98 percent in just 6 minutes, three minutes faster than BYD’s latest battery. “We always deliver what we promise,” said Gao Huan, CATL’s chief technology officer, at Super Technology Day.
Bloomberg reports that the nickel-cobalt-manganese battery offers a range of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), while the condensed-matter battery can reach up to 1,500 kilometers in a typical sedan, setting a new benchmark for premium vehicles.
During the event, Dr. Wu Kai, CATL’s chief scientist, discussed the development of new technologies and battery chemistries. He noted that LFP is nearing its theoretical energy density limit, making it ideal for a roadmap focused on extreme fast charging to achieve the best balance.
Robin Zeng, CATL’s chairman and CEO, emphasized that industrial innovation must be grounded in rigorous scientific principles. For Chinese technology to succeed globally, it must prioritize not only speed and scale but also innovation quality, validation, and brand credibility.
CATL explains that increasing charge rates while preserving battery lifespan depends primarily on managing temperature rise, rather than trickle current. The Arrhenius equation shows that a 10°C increase in battery temperature can double the rate of internal side reactions, which can significantly reduce cycle life.
The third generation Shenxing Superfast charging battery addresses heat management through three key measures:
- Reduced heat production during operation
- Enhanced thermal propagation
- Higher precision control
As a result, after 1,000 full cycles, the battery retains over 90 percent of its capacity, balancing super-fast charging with long service life.
CATL claims the new battery achieves true 10C charging and a peak 15C charging rate. Charging from 10 to 35 percent takes just 1 minute, from 10 to 80 percent takes 3 minutes and 44 seconds, and from 10 to 98 percent takes 6 minutes and 27 seconds. Even at −30°C, charging from 20 to 98 percent takes about 9 minutes. The battery also supports both fast charging and battery swapping.
Third Generation Qilin Battery
Previously, achieving long range in premium EVs with LFP batteries required adding more capacity, which increased weight. The third generation Qilin battery is designed for premium long-range EVs, offering a cell energy density of 280 Wh/kg and enabling a 1,000 km range with 10C super-fast charging. The battery pack weighs only 625 kg, reducing weight by 255 kg and saving 112 liters of space compared to equivalent LFP systems.
The lightweight design delivers several benefits:
- Energy consumption per 100 km drops by over 6 percent, saving about 0.78 kWh per 100 km. For a fleet of one million vehicles traveling 20,000 km annually, this results in 156 million kWh saved and a reduction of 78,500 tons of CO₂ emissions.
- Performance and safety improvements include a 0.6-second reduction in 0–100 km/h acceleration, shorter overtaking risk window, higher moose test speed, lower body roll angle, better obstacle avoidance, and shorter braking distance.
- Durability is improved, with chassis component life extended by 40 percent and tire life by over 30 percent, increasing replacement intervals by at least 10,000 km. The 112 liters of saved space can increase cabin headroom by at least 18 mm.
- Safety is enhanced through “thermal-electrical separation,” with each cell featuring an independent sealed exhaust channel to isolate thermal events and prevent propagation.
Qilin Condensed Battery
The Qilin condensed battery brings aviation-grade technology to passenger vehicles, achieving 350 Wh/kg cell energy density and 760 Wh/L volumetric energy density. These records enable a range of 1,500 km for sedans and over 1,000 km for large SUVs, with the battery pack weighing less than 650 kg.
This battery uses a high nickel cathode and low expansion silicon-carbon anode, increasing energy density by 50 Wh/kg. Its aviation-grade titanium alloy case reduces thickness by 60 percent and weight by 30 percent, while tripling unit strength and adding 20 Wh/kg in energy density. The technology builds on CATL’s electric aviation program, where 500 Wh/kg systems have completed maiden flights on four-ton aircraft, with further validation underway for larger aircraft.
Replacing liquid electrolyte with a condensed system eliminates leakage and combustion risks, achieving “no liquid to leak, no liquid to ignite.” A new composite current collector acts as a fast self-fusing fuse in extreme cases of internal short circuits.
Second-Generation Freevoy Super Hybrid Battery
The second generation Freevoy Super Hybrid Battery extends electric-only range to 600 km and standardizes 10C super-fast charging. It introduces “super hybrid technology,” integrating LFP and NCM materials through gradient-uniform mixing, with LFP’s olivine crystal structure as the core and a uniform hybrid at the powder particle level.
This results in an energy density of 230 Wh/kg and a range increase of over 15 percent without adding weight. The system delivers 1.5 MW of instantaneous power at full charge and maintains 1.2 MW at 20 percent SOC, addressing power degradation at low charge. In off-road scenarios needing over 350 kW, the system provides more than three times the required power, ensuring consistent performance even at low charge levels.
Safety features include a reinforced bottom coating that withstands 1,500 joules of impact energy (ten times the national standard) and waterproof sealing that allows immersion in 2 meters of water for over 200 hours without performance loss.
Naxtra Sodium-Ion Battery
The Naxtra sodium-ion battery marks CATL’s move from laboratory breakthrough to large-scale manufacturing. By overcoming key engineering challenges, CATL has achieved GWh-level industrialization.
This year, CATL addressed four major bottlenecks for sodium-ion mass production:
- Extreme water control
- Gas generation in hard carbon
- Aluminum foil adhesion
- Self-forming anode systems
The Naxtra sodium-ion battery is set to enter mass production by the end of 2026, paving the way for reliable, large-scale deployment.
Integrated Supercharging and Battery Swapping Network
CATL has also launched an integrated supercharging and battery-swapping network, designed as a unified system. It is built on three pillars: home charging, public charging, and battery swapping.
All passenger vehicle “Choco-Swap” and heavy truck “QIJI” stations will feature Shenxing supercharging systems, enabling true charge/swap synergy. Each station serves as both a battery-swapping node and a high-power charging hub.
The integrated stations use shared compact substations and charging modules, reducing energy conversion steps and lowering power loss by over 13 percent compared to conventional storage-equipped charging stations. In emergencies, station batteries can discharge directly to charging equipment, raising utilization rates above 85 percent. This allows a service capacity three times higher per parking space, while reducing the fixed investment cost of the supercharging segment by 20 percent.
CATL plans to build 4,000 integrated charge/swap stations by the end of 2026, covering nearly 190 cities and a nationwide highway network spanning 12 vertical and 11 horizontal corridors. The Choco-Swap network already includes 1,470 stations across 99 cities, with rapid expansion underway.
With five battery products covering the full material spectrum and an integrated supercharging and battery swapping network, CATL has established a complete value chain from products to infrastructure. The company plans to continue investing in advanced research, large-scale manufacturing, and ecosystem collaboration to accelerate the transition from single-point innovation to comprehensive energy solutions, ensuring technological progress benefits all mobility use cases.
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