Deliveries of Zeekr's Zeekr 009 MPV, the world's first vehicle to be powered by the Qilin Battery, are expected to begin in the second quarter.
(Image credit: CATL)
Chinese power battery giant CATL's Qilin Battery has achieved mass production and has a 13 percent higher capacity than 4680 batteries in the same volume, local media outlet The Paper reported today.
As the world's first vehicle to be powered by the Qilin Battery, deliveries of Zeekr's Zeekr 009 MPV are expected to begin in the second quarter, 1-2 months behind the battery's mass production, the report said.
A high percentage of consumers who ordered the Zeekr 009 opted for the version with the Qilin Battery, a Zeekr source said, adding, "This surprised us."
On June 23, 2022, CATL officially unveiled its highly anticipated CTP (cell to pack) 3.0 Qilin Battery, which it said brought battery system integration to a new level.
The Qilin Battery allows volume utilization to exceed 72 percent and energy density to reach 255 Wh/kg, easily allowing vehicles to achieve a range of 1000 km, CATL said at the time.
With the same chemistry system and the same pack size, Qilin Battery delivers 13 percent more power compared to 4680 batteries, achieving an overall improvement in range, fast charging, safety, life, efficiency, and low-temperature performance, according to CATL.
Last August 27, Zeekr and CATL announced that the Zeekr 009 MPV will be the world's first vehicle to carry the Qilin Battery, and the Zeekr 001 will use an ultra-long range version of the Qilin Battery, which will be the world's first production vehicle to carry the 1000-km range Qilin Battery.
In a post on its WeChat account at the time, Zeekr said that deliveries of the Zeekr 009 with the Qilin Battery are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2023, while the Zeekr 001 with the battery will be available in the second quarter of 2023.
"With its 140-kWh battery pack, the Zeekr 009 ME version sets a global record for a mid to large size MPV achieving an all-electric range of 822 kilometers," The Paper quoted Liu Changyan, CATL's executive president of China passenger vehicle business, as saying.
In addition to Zeekr, several other vehicle brands, including Li Auto, Neta, Lotus and AITO, have previously said they will use CATL's Qilin Battery.
It is worth noting that the Qilin Battery is a CATL innovation in pack structure, not in battery chemistry. This means that both ternary batteries, as well as lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, can use this pack structure.
The Qilin Battery can achieve energy densities of 255Wh/kg with ternary cells and 160Wh/kg with LFP cells, CATL previously said.
CATL's innovation was named the best invention of 2022 by Time magazine in the US, according to information shared by the battery maker on Weibo on December 30 of last year.
CATL unveils Qilin Battery, says it can easily achieve 1,000 km vehicle range
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