CATL says Shenxing III can charge to ~80% in about 3 minutes
- CATL unveiled its third-generation Shenxing LFP battery in Beijing on April 21, saying it can take an EV from 10% to 80% in 3:44. - The bigger flex is the full curve: 10% to 35% in 1 minute and 10% to 98% in 6:27, with 15C charging. - It matters because China’s EV leaders are now racing from “fast charging” to refueling-speed claims — but only with matching hardware.
Batteries are the whole story here. Not the car badge, not the touchscreen, not the marketing video. CATL — the world’s biggest EV battery maker — just said its third-generation Shenxing battery can take an EV from 10% to 80% charge in 3 minutes and 44 seconds, with 10% to 98% in 6 minutes and 27 seconds. That is a real shift in what companies are even willing to claim publicly, because it pushes EV charging into gas-station-time territory. (prnewswire.com) ### What is Shenxing III? It’s CATL’s newest lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, battery. LFP matters because it’s usually the cheaper, safer, longer-life chemistry — but not the one people associate with absolute p(prnewswire.com)s. (prnewswire.com) ### What did CATL actually claim? The headline number floating around is “about 80% in three minutes,” but the company’s own figure is more precise: 10% to 80% in 3 minutes and 44 seconds. It also said the pack (prnewswire.com) 30 seconds under its test conditions. (prnewswire.com) ### Why is that a big deal? Because 10% to 80% is the number drivers actually care about. That’s the useful charging window on a road trip. A battery that can do that in under 4 minutes changes the mental model (prnewswire.com)a 10-minute charge. (prnewswire.com) ### How is CATL saying it pulled this off? The short version is lower resistance and better heat control. CATL says the new pack cuts internal resistance to 0.25 milliohms, which it describes as 50% below the in(prnewswire.com) charging a battery is like forcing water through a pipe, resistance is the pinch point that turns flow into damaging friction. (carnewschina.com) ### What about battery life? This is the obvious catch, and CATL tried to answer it directly. The company said the battery keeps more than 90% of its capacity after 1,000 complete cycles, even with this ultra-fast-charging setu(carnewschina.com)ing that without cooking itself.” (prnewswire.com) ### Is CATL alone here? No — and that’s why this matters beyond one launch. BYD already pushed the same narrative with its Super e-Platform, claiming 1 MW charging and 400 km of added range in 5 minutes, with pl(prnewswire.com)eling-speed claims. (byd.com) ### So what’s the real catch? Infrastructure. A battery can only charge as fast as the charger, cable, cooling system, and grid connection let it. These headline times are lab-like or tightly controlled demo numbers unless drivers can find compat(byd.com)s on charger rollout just as much as cell chemistry. (byd.com) ### Bottom line? CATL didn’t just show a faster battery. It showed where the industry is heading. The race is no longer only about range — it’s about making charging so fast that waiting stops being the reason people hesitate to buy an EV. (prne([byd.com)y-experience-302749135.html))
