CATL Launches Super Hybrid "Xiaoyao" Battery: Over 400km Range with 4C Fast Charging Capability

On October 24, CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd.) launched the world's first hybrid battery with a pure electric range of over 400 kilometers, along with 4C fast charging capability. The Xiaoyao Super Hybrid Battery sets a new standard for hybrid batteries, showcasing cutting-edge technology.

Redefining the high standards of hybrid batteries, the Xiaoyao Super Hybrid Battery achieves multiple technological innovations:

1. Pure Electric Range of Over 400KM

One of the main limitations of hybrid vehicles has been insufficient pure electric range, which is constrained by limited battery space and material performance, resulting in low battery capacity and inefficient lithium-ion transmission.

The Xiaoyao battery utilizes cathode material surface modification technology and an innovative high-voltage electrolyte formula, creating a "nano-level protective layer" on the material's surface. This, combined with the new electrolyte formulation, reduces side reactions in the active layer and extends the usable battery capacity.

Furthermore, by introducing highly active excitons into the cathode material, CATL has created a dedicated high-speed channel for lithium ions, greatly improving transmission efficiency. This addresses the bottleneck in lithium-ion diffusion within the material, significantly increasing energy density and enabling a pure electric range exceeding 400 kilometers.

Leveraging its deep understanding of battery mechanisms, CATL developed a high-performance BMS (Battery Management System) algorithm, using extensive data and user behavior to optimize accuracy. After thorough validation and iterations across a wide range of real-world operating conditions, SOC (State of Charge) accuracy has been improved by 40%, and pure electric mode energy utilization has increased by more than 10%. This addresses range prediction errors caused by inaccurate SOC readings.

2. 4C Fast Charging: 280KM Range in 10 Minutes

Traditional hybrid vehicles often prioritize power output at the expense of fast charging capability due to using power-focused batteries. This, combined with the limitations of complex charging management systems, further restricts fast charging performance.

With the mass production of CATL's Kirin and Shenxing battery technologies, fast charging has become more widely adopted. The Xiaoyao battery incorporates 4C fast charging technology, achieving an impressive "280 kilometers of range in just 10 minutes of charging."

On the cathode side, fast ion conductor coating technology provides lithium ions with a "fast lane," while doping with transition metals improves conductivity. On the anode side, second-generation fast-charging graphite and new nano-coating technology enhance lithium-ion desolvation, accelerating ion release and minimizing resistance when lithium ions are embedded in the electrode material. This makes energy transfer smoother and more efficient.

The multi-gradient, layered electrode sheet design, with a porous upper layer and a highly compacted lower layer, resolves the conflict between lithium-ion diffusion speed and energy density. This design ensures high power performance and ultra-fast charging without sacrificing range.

3. Stable Power Output, No Worry About Low Battery Levels

In hybrid vehicles, the battery must work in tandem with the range extender and engine to provide power. When the battery level is low, voltage decreases, which can reduce power output and affect vehicle performance. Therefore, maintaining battery power performance at low SOC levels is critical for hybrid vehicles.

CATL has focused on improving power output in low SOC zones, ensuring stable power output even when the battery is low.

By using high-activity excitons doping technology in the cathode material, the number of high-activity sites on the surface is increased, providing more fast diffusion channels for lithium ions. This solves the issue of slow lithium-ion diffusion in low SOC conditions, boosting power by more than 50% in this range.

CATL has also modeled the polarization characteristics of battery charge and discharge, developing a multi-level power prediction and control strategy that improves hybrid vehicle power performance by 20%.

4. Lithium-Sodium Hybrid Battery System: Operable in -40°C Extreme Cold

In northern regions, potential EV owners worry about how cold temperatures affect battery performance, such as reduced range and charging efficiency in winter.

With CATL's pioneering AB battery system integration technology, the Xiaoyao battery combines lithium and sodium batteries in a specific configuration to enhance low-temperature performance, improving cold-weather range by 5%. Coupled with CATL's second-generation extreme-cold electrolyte, this technology reduces ion transmission resistance and increases conductivity by over 30%, enabling discharge in temperatures as low as -40°C. The battery can still charge at -30°C and provide strong power output at -20°C.

Because lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries have different chemical properties, their self-discharge, internal resistance growth, and health degradation paths differ. Managing these differences in a single battery pack, especially in low-temperature conditions, presents significant challenges for battery design and management.

To address the differences in low-temperature performance between lithium and sodium batteries, CATL developed a full-temperature intelligent thermal management system. This system manages different materials separately in cold environments, dynamically adjusting battery status and improving consistency. It also resolves issues like low voltage or battery failure in cold weather, ensuring stable power output even in freezing conditions.

Additionally, sodium ions are used as a precise SOC measurement standard to assist in calibrating the lithium battery's charge, improving overall system control accuracy by 30%. This adds more than 10 kilometers to the pure electric range.

The Xiaoyao battery has already been adopted by several vehicle brands, including Li Auto, Avatr, Deep Blue, Chery, and Nezha. By 2025, nearly 30 hybrid vehicle models, including those from Geely, GAC, and Lantu, are expected to feature CATL's Xiaoyao Super Hybrid Battery.

With CATL's world-leading manufacturing capabilities, the Xiaoyao battery can be quickly mass-produced and installed in vehicles, helping more competitive hybrid models reach the market with high quality, giving CATL a leading position in the hybrid battery market.