CATL's condensed battery powers a 4-ton aircraft; promises 3,000 km range

Chinese battery giant CATL has recently test-flown a 4-ton electric passenger aircraft equipped with its advanced 'Condensed' battery, and is said to even target a larger 8-ton civil electric aircraft with a flying range of about 2,000 to 3,000 km by 2027-2028. 

The first-hand information about the company's battery-electric aircraft project was revealed by its Chairman Robin Zeng at the 15th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, that began early this week at Dalian in China. 

The highlighting feature of the CATL's e-aircraft project is the application of its Condensed battery, which was launched at Auto Show Shanghai last year. The advanced battery boasts an energy density of up to 500 Wh/kg at the single cell level, which can be considered as twice the energy density of an average battery cell used in electric vehicles today. 

Media reports suggest that CATL is already working with China's state-owned aircraft developer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) to design electric airplanes, with a joint venture formed in July last year to solidify their plans. 

Zeng said that his company's exploration of battery-powered aircrafts began with a project involving smaller airplanes, with the latest project reaching the testing of a 4-ton civil aircraft. However, he has claimed that an 8-ton class electric aircraft could make the project a commercial success. 

Further, CATL's chairman has affirmed that high-density Condensed batteries are robust enough for long-range flights, even "making them feasible for private and business jets," according to media reports. 

CATL's condensed battery leverages highly conductive biomimetic condensed state electrolytes to construct a micron-level self-adaptive net structure that can adjust the interactive forces among the chains, thus improving the conductive performance of the cells and in turn the efficiency of lithium ion transporting while boosting stability of the microstructure.

Moreover, the Condensed battery integrates a range of innovative technologies, including the ultra-high energy density cathode materials, innovative anode materials, separators, and manufacturing processes, offering excellent charge and discharge performance as well as good safety performance.

At the battery launch event, the company claimed that the condensed batteries will usher in an era of universal electrification of sea, land and air transportation.