Photo: Courtesy of CATL

China’s leading electric vehicle battery manufacturer CATL announced on Saturday that the first shipment of its highly innovative Qilin battery will be used by Chinese carmakers Geely Automobile and SERES. 

Geely Automobile's high-end NEV Zeekr is the debut brand to use Qilin battery, with its Zeekr 009 becoming the debut model using the CATL battery, while the new AITO series of SERES will also be equipped with Qilin.

On June 23 this year, CATL launched Qilin, the third generation of its CTP (cell-to-pack) technology. With a record-breaking volume utilization efficiency of 72 percent, the battery achieves the highest integration level worldwide to date, able to support the range of 1,000 kilometers with no risk of depletion.

With the same chemical system and pack size, the battery can deliver 13 percent more power than Tesla’s self-developed battery, accomplishing an all-round improvement in range, fast-charging, safety, service life, efficiency and low-temperature performance, according to media reports.

In recent years, China has accelerated its pace of NEV technology innovation. So far, the country has built a total of 3.98 million chargers and 1,625 switching stations, forming the world's largest charging and switching network, the China Media Group reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the country is also eyeing a strong momentum for NEV sales. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, cumulative sales of NEVs reached 2.6 million units in the first half of the year, up 115.0 percent year-on-year.

The rapid growth of NEV penetration has driven vigorous innovation of batteries. According to research firm SNE Research, global power battery usage from January to June in 2022 reached 203.4 gigawatt hours, up 76.8 percent year-on-year.

In the first half of this year, CATL ranked first in battery market share. Data from SNE Research data showed that its battery’s global market share stood at 34.8 percent, up 6.2 percent on a yearly basis. 

The latest financial report issued by  CATL showed that in the first half of this year, the company’s operating revenue exceeded 112.9 billion yuan ($16.4 billion), up 156.32 percent year-on-year, with net profit of listed companies rising 82.17 percent to reach 8.17 billion yuan.

Global Times