Tesla battery supplier CATL has launched a new plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) battery that offers more than 400km of claimed driving range.
Called ‘Freevoy’, the new hybrid battery is already being used by Chinese brands including Deepal, Li Auto, Avatr, Changan, and Neta.
It’s expected that 30 hybrid vehicles will utilise the technology by 2025, with Geely, Chery and GAC to launch models equipped with the Freevoy battery.
The Deepal and Chery brands both sell vehicles in Australia, while Geely and GAC are due to arrive here soon.
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In addition to offering 400km of range, the Freevoy offers 4C ultra-fast charging, with the capacity to replenish 280km of range in just 10 minutes.
While the claimed range of the Freevoy has likely been achieved on the lenient CLTC testing cycle, it’s a significant improvement over the sub-100km figures offered by many current PHEVs.
The Freevoy hybrid battery also trumps many pure electric vehicles on range, including the MG 4 Excite 51 (350km), BYD Atto 3 Standard Range (345km), and Fiat 500e (311km) – though notably these figures are based on the stricter WLTP cycle.
Freevoy batteries are set to be incorporated into both plug-in hybrids and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), the latter of which use a combustion engine predominately as a generator to recharge an upsized drive battery pack.
According to CATL, advancements in both materials and battery chemistry have contributed to the development of the new battery, including “surface modification technology for the cathode material, coupled with an innovative high-voltage electrolyte formulation, to create a nano protective layer”.
The company also says it has implemented not only lithium-ion but also sodium-ion technology in the new battery, and claims it can be charged in temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius.
CATL is a Chinese battery manufacturer and technology company established in 2011, with a focus on lithium-ion batteries for EVs.