Any potential business shift towards cylindrical battery cells in EVs is much from a foregone conclusion, not to mention an precise development. Case in level: The battery provider CATL makes a robust argument for the prismatic format with the newest model of its cell-to-pack battery expertise, which skips the thought of battery modules fully.
CATL final week disclosed extra particulars relating to its third-generation tech, which can be known as Qilin, or CTP 3.0. CATL revealed Qilin earlier this spring with the declare that it may produce extra energy than the newest battery tech from Tesla.
It says that the cell-to-pack system can ship 13% extra energy by quantity than Tesla’s 4680 battery, with an power density of 255 Wh/kg with current-tech lithium-ion cells and 160 Wh/kg for LFP cells—delivering greater than a 1,000-km vary (621 miles) “in a breeze,” claimed the corporate.
CATL third-generation cell-to-pack tech
CTP 3.0 is designed round a versatile expandable thermal administration and housing—altogether a part of a “sandwich structure,” the corporate calls it, changing a three-piece development of the earlier variations.
Flexible micron bridges between the cells can even assist adapt to bodily adjustments contained in the packs, aiding reliability. Perhaps most noteworthy, CATL boasts of a “disruptive” water-cooling design for the pack.
It gives a 50% enhance in thermal effectivity versus the earlier pack design and has 4 instances the warmth switch space versus earlier than. Cooling channels between adjoining cells enable sooner responses in temperature conditioning for a scorching begin in chilly climate (5 minutes), or 10-minute DC fast-charging (10-80%).
CATL claims the extra aggressive cooling technique makes it appropriate with “materials with higher energy density”—a robust trace it’s looking forward to different future chemistries equivalent to sodium-ion cells.
CATL CTP 3.0 cell-to-pack battery tech
CATL CTP 3.0 cell-to-pack battery tech
In all, the CATL system gives a formidable 72% quantity utilization effectivity—that means that portion of the amount is devoted to battery cells, with the rest for the construction, connections, security options, and cooling. That’s an enormous enchancment versus the 55% quantity utilization effectivity of the unique CATL cell-to-pack system revealed in 2019.
The cell-to-pack tech can be a constructing block for CATL’s Evogo battery-swapping enterprise, which may assist match much more worth flexibility into EVs. So far, Evogo is targeted on China.
Although CATL’s CTP is up to now targeted across the prismatic format, the logic and enhancements may feasibly be prolonged to cylindrical cells. Recently, BMW reportedly pivoted to the Chinese provider as considered one of its main sources for cylindrical cells in next-generation EVs.
CTP 3.0 might be mass-produced in China and might be due in manufacturing fashions quickly, CATL says. Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis are among the many manufacturers which have already agreed to make use of the tech, though particular fashions haven’t but been confirmed.
Source: www.greencarreports.com
