The race to design the best batteries has only just begun, in a sector where competition is fierce to win contracts for new electric cars. One of the fastest-growing is the Chinese CATL, which has confirmed that it is ready to produce revolutionary batteries with a virtually unlimited lifespan.
This has been indicated by the president of CATL, Zeng Yuqun, who this week has confirmed to the media that they already have their new batteries ready. Some cells of which he has not given technical details, but he has insured, will be the most competitive on the market in terms of useful life.
According to Mr. Yugun, these new cells will have a useful life of at least 2 million km in a vehicle or 16 years of use. A calculation that would mean traveling around 125,000 kilometers each year in that period.
With these data, CATL wants to anticipate an essential trend within the sector. This will mean that manufacturers will be able to count not only on a reliable technology capable of offering long-term performance without problems, but also that these batteries will have enormous potential when the time comes to leave their jobs inside the vehicles to be used as storage elements for the electricity grid. Even after the passage of hundreds of thousands of kilometers.
They also want to help end the prejudices that some people still have with the durability of batteries for electric cars. With this new technology, they will be able to withstand even beyond the life of the vehicle itself.
Without a doubt, the most exciting part is that we are not talking about future technology. The CATL president himself said so during the presentation of this project, where he indicated that “if someone places an order, we are ready to deliver it.”
On the negative side, the gain in useful life will be accompanied by an increase in the price. The cost of the cells concerning the current models is estimated to be 10% higher. A factor that could limit its use to sectors such as high-end models and wide autonomy. Especially to industrial vehicles where that price difference can be assumed considering the enormous impact that the useful life of these cells will have.
The result will be that in the short term, manufacturers will have at their disposal batteries with a useful life that will even improve the famous Tesla million-mile batteries. An aspect that will facilitate the electrification of sectors such as heavy transport that will be able to add to their fleets more economical vehicles from the operational perspective, without emissions, and also with an extremely long useful life.