Live data from Hacker News

CATL's new LFP battery can charge from 10 to 98% in less than 7 minutes

arstechnica.com

1–10 of 103 posts

Re: CATL's new LFP battery can charge from 10 to 98% in less than 7 minutes

#3
post #2

I did not expect Nio's 5-minute battery swap technology to become obsolete this soon.

If anything, Nio battery swap stations would allow car users to swap to newer types of battery as they become available. I say this knowing Nio is one of CATL's most important partners[1].

[1] https://eletric-vehicles.com/catl/catl-calls-nio-an-irreplac...

Re: CATL's new LFP battery can charge from 10 to 98% in less than 7 minutes

#4
Saw this yesterday, did not expect the competition around Donut's batteries to heat up this much and this quickly.

Even the gravimetric density is fairly close, CATL's claim is 350 Wh/kg, compared to Donut's 400 Wh/kg.

The safety and durability (plus no lithium) prospects of Donut's V1 battery are still big though (if the thing is actually real).

Re: CATL's new LFP battery can charge from 10 to 98% in less than 7 minutes

#5
Neither article mentions what specs - voltage and kW - are used when doing this very fast charging.

Does anyone know? Assuming it's not just the current high-end spec of 800v? It matters because higher current requires heavier equipment to generate it and heavier cables too.

Re: CATL's new LFP battery can charge from 10 to 98% in less than 7 minutes

#6
post #2

I did not expect Nio's 5-minute battery swap technology to become obsolete this soon.

If anything, Nio battery swap stations would allow car users to swap to newer types of battery as they become available. I say this knowing Nio is one of CATL's most important partners[1]. [1] https://eletric-vehicles.com/catl/catl-calls-nio-an-irreplac...

5 minute swap is not needed for this.

Re: CATL's new LFP battery can charge from 10 to 98% in less than 7 minutes

#7

Saw this yesterday, did not expect the competition around Donut's batteries to heat up this much and this quickly. Even the gravimetric density is fairly close, CATL's claim is 350 Wh/kg, compared to Donut's 400 Wh/kg. The safety and durability (plus no lithium) prospects of Donut's V1 battery are still big though (if the thing is actually real).

Feels quite clear Donut doesn't have much - no meaningful new tests released for many weeks already and some executive of Nordic Nano sued Donut Lab and said their claims were misleading.

I haven't really followed that closely myself, but I've noticed the people who I saw defending Donut before have gone really quiet about it lately.

Re: CATL's new LFP battery can charge from 10 to 98% in less than 7 minutes

#8
> have a minute to plug in? Still sufficient to get from 10 to 35 percent state of charge.

Scaling that to something the size of an EV pack will require one massive cable/connector. Call it 5kw/h in 1/60 hours, thats 3000kw, at 700v thats still roughly 4000 amps. (Please correct my head math.) Charging one car could suck up more power than an entire neighbourhood. Say four or five chargers operating at once ... every roadside charging station will need its own electrical substation.

Re: CATL's new LFP battery can charge from 10 to 98% in less than 7 minutes

#9
post #2

I did not expect Nio's 5-minute battery swap technology to become obsolete this soon.

If anything, Nio battery swap stations would allow car users to swap to newer types of battery as they become available. I say this knowing Nio is one of CATL's most important partners[1]. [1] https://eletric-vehicles.com/catl/catl-calls-nio-an-irreplac...

That'd be an interesting situation. They'd probably replace their fleet of batteries gradually, so with each swap sometimes you'd get upgraded, sometimes downgraded. Your range and home charging curves would change with the batteries, and Nio would have to update the battery management software when it puts in a different battery type.

But over time, you'd get upgraded on average without having to pay for a new battery, as long as Nio kept updating to keep its batteries competitive.

Re: CATL's new LFP battery can charge from 10 to 98% in less than 7 minutes

#10
post #2

I did not expect Nio's 5-minute battery swap technology to become obsolete this soon.

We should always take marketing number with a huge grain of salt, so the 10 to 98% in 7 minutes remain to be seen. Also, there is the question of if it lowers the battery lifespan faster than charging at lower power. It is does, there might still be a point in battery swap, especially for public transport systems (for bus). A public transit operator might want to have more battery than vehicle, so that they can rotate the battery regularly and charge them at lower power, to diminish and distribute the wear on battery. But that's obviously a big if and a more niche usage.
Post reply on HN