CATL Breaks Into 300+ Wh/kg Energy Density On Battery Cell Level

More range or lighter electric vehicles on the horizon

Chinese EV battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL) announced that its new lithium-ion cell sample achieved energy density of 304 Wh/kg.

The value was unofficially known from at least mid-2018 when confidential data leaked with a planned result of 300 Wh/kg and 700 Wh/L using a Ni-rich cathode and a Graphite/Si anode.

We believe that currently, no battery manufacturer has yet to reach 300 Wh/kg for lithium-ion batteries for electric cars in volume production as the state-of-the-art cells are at around 250 Wh/kg.

CATL news

Let's calculate the weight benefit of higher energy dense batteries for example packs:

• 50 kWh at 250 Wh/kg: 200 kg
• 50 kWh at 300 Wh/kg: 166 kg (down 34 kg or 17%)

From CATL's presentation (slide shown by pushevs.com in mid-2018):

Source: chinadaily.com.cn, pushevs.com