Fastest charging EV batteries beat BYD Blade 2 times to near fueling a gas tank

China's battery wars have a new contender, and it's coming from the state's own premium FAW Hongqi brand, China's oldest. Working with a battery specialist startup, Hongqi validated a cell that goes from 10% to 70% state of charge in just 3 minutes and 41 seconds, with a 10-97% charge in a tad over eight minutes. Tested at a 25C charge rate with a claimed 12C peak, those numbers would make it the second fastest charging EV battery when it hits production.

The numbers beat BYD's Blade 2 battery, unveiled back in March alongside the company's 1,500 kW flash-charging network. BYD's cell needs 5 minutes for the same 10-70% stretch and 9 minutes to hit 97%. While that's impressive by any normal standard, Hongqi's numbers shave more than a minute off the midrange sprint.

CATL's lab times, however, still hold the crown with the Shenxing 3 capable of reaching 10-98% charge in only 6 minutes and 27 seconds. CATL also claims an internal resistance of just 0.25 mΩ, which is the real impressive result, sitting 50% below the industry average.

Hongqi's engineering team also focused on lowering internal resistance by reformulating the anode and using an electrolyte with low desolvation energy to facilitate the migration of lithium ions. A composite carbon coating cuts resistance further, while adaptive liquid cooling holds the battery pack temperature variance to within three degrees during speedy charging. There is also a safety system that throttles power in real time to avoid overvoltage.

While an 8-minute charging time is an impressive feat to pull off, Hongqi’s battery is yet to prove its mettle in the production stage just like CATL's. BYD's Blade 2, on the other hand, is rolling out across a wide range of models, and the company is also deploying ultrafast 1.5 MW chargers to take advantage of the chemistry. Still, charging time records that are falling left and right certainly puts pressure on all industry players to improve further, keeping them on their toes to smooth out the transition from gas to electric vehicles.

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