China's CATL launches new battery for hybrid vehicles

BEIJING -- Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), China's leading battery maker, on Thursday unveiled a new battery designed for hybrid vehicles in Beijing.

The battery, known as Freevoy, is the world's first hybrid battery with a range of over 400 kilometers and superfast-charging capabilities, and just a 10-minute charge can add a driving distance of more than 280 kilometers, according to Gao Huan, chief technology officer of CATL's China E-car Business.

Packing sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries, Freevoy also addresses the low-temperature limitations of new energy vehicles (NEVs), enabling them to operate in extremely cold environments -- temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius for discharging and minus 30 degrees Celsius for recharging.

More Chinese consumers are favoring hybrids as they offer a greater driving range than pure EVs and can cost less than gasoline-powered cars.

Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that the sales of hybrids in the first nine months this year hit 3.32 million units, up 84.2 percent year on year.

"The penetration rate of hybrid vehicles in the NEV market reached 43 percent, which is a force that cannot be ignored in the electrification process," said Luo Jian, CATL's chief marketing officer.

Freevoy has already been adopted by various Chinese EV enterprises, including Li Auto and AVATR, and is expected to be installed in models made by other carmakers including Geely and Chery.

According to market research firm SNE Research, CATL's EV battery consumption volume has ranked first globally for seven consecutive years, holding 36.8 percent of the global EV battery market share in 2023.

Headquartered in Ningde, East China's Fujian province, CATL has inked supply contracts with a slew of global car manufacturers, including BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler and Honda.