Battery manufacturer Contemporary Amprex Technology Limited (CATL) has unveiled its latest product, the Freevoy Super Hybrid Battery that is claimed to be the world’s first hybrid vehicle battery to offer a pure electric range of more than 400 km and the capability to support 4C superfast charging.
Designed for extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), CATL claims that the new Freevoy battery will free drivers “from the constant need to charge”, though the aforementioned 400 km EV range claim was not accompanied by the capacity of the battery used.
The manufacturer claims charging speeds for the Freevoy battery that enable the replenishment of 280 km of range in 10 minutes of charging, “effectively dispelling range anxiety” for owners of EREVs and PHEVs. The ‘C’ term is a measure denotes its rate of charge or discharge, where 4C is its ability to be fully charged four times in an hour.
Sodium-ion technology is used in the Freevoy battery to overcome limitations of operating in low temperatures, with discharge capability possible in temperatures down to -40 degrees Celsius, and charging capability possible down to -30 degrees Celsius. Operation at temperatures down to -20 degrees Celsius also maintains a ‘seamless driving experience’ comparable to normal temperatures, says CATL.
Upgraded battery management system algorithm and hardware has supported state-of-charge accuracy by 40%, with the overall pure electric utilisation rate has increased by more than 10%. CATL also claims an improvement in power performance of hybrid vehicles by 20% through a multi-level power prediction and control strategy for the battery.
The Freevoy battery has already been put into vehicles from several brands, says CATL, including Neta, Li Auto, Avatr, Deepal and Changan Nevo. By next year, a further 30 hybrid vehicle models equipped with the Freevoy battery from Geely, Chery, GAC and Voyah are expected to launch, according to the battery manufacturer.
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Coming to Geely as well? Good. Please use it for the Proton eMas 7 PHEV’s Thor powertrain and we’ll have a winner in our hands
No mention of SSB yet
Define winner… The only thing that matters is price. Sell the cheapest car in the segment using ‘national car’ price advantages… It will be a ‘winner’ no matter what they put in there