CATL unveils 8C battery specifically for light commercial electric vehicles
CATL has unveiled the Tectrans II Superfast Charging Edition, a battery specifically designed for light commercial vehicles in the logistics sector. According to CATL, this is the first battery in its class to offer an 8C peak charging capability, enabling it to go from 20 to 80 per cent state of charge in 6 minutes and 48 seconds. A full charge is expected to take 8 minutes and 56 seconds.
CATL describes this charging speed as gradually approaching the refuelling time of a combustion-engine vehicle. The new battery aims to address key challenges in electric delivery operations, including long charging times, performance losses at low temperatures, and rapid battery ageing. CATL offers a warranty of up to ten years or one million kilometres, ensuring the battery matches the vehicle’s lifespan and improves the residual value of used vehicles.
Technically, CATL has reduced the internal resistance of the battery cells by 50 per cent compared to the industry average, which minimises heat generation during fast charging. The company has also modified the graphite structure of the anode at the atomic level to reduce the loss of active lithium and slow battery ageing. The fast-charging capability remains largely intact even at low temperatures: at minus 20 degrees Celsius, the charging time increases by only two and a half minutes compared to normal conditions.
With the Tectrans II battery, CATL is introducing its fast-charging technology to light commercial vehicles for the first time. The Tectrans series (formerly Tianxing) debuted in July 2024 as a battery brand for commercial vehicles and has since been continuously expanded. Following batteries for heavy-duty commercial vehicles and construction machinery, the first batteries of the Tectrans II product family for light commercial vehicles were launched earlier this year – including a sodium-ion battery. With the newly unveiled 8C version, CATL is now offering a variant within its Tectrans II portfolio that focuses on ultra-fast charging for commercial applications. In the passenger car sector, CATL has already made significant strides in this area. In April, the company unveiled the third generation of its Shenxing battery for passenger cars, which, according to the manufacturer, enables a charging boost from 10 to 80 per cent in just 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
Alongside the new battery, CATL is expanding its infrastructure. The company has announced enhanced plans for a combined network of ultra-fast charging and battery-swapping stations, designed to serve both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. These stations are tailored for urban delivery traffic, regional freight transport, and cold-chain logistics, and feature specially adapted fast-charging stations for light commercial vehicles. According to CATL, 4,000 of these stations are set to be installed by 2026, covering around 190 cities in China.
CATL’s introduction of the new battery is part of a series of recent developments in the Chinese market. Since 1 July, stricter safety regulations for traction batteries and electric vehicles have been in force in China. Manufacturers must now demonstrate that batteries neither catch fire nor explode even after thermal runaway and must pass additional fast-charging and safety tests. In parallel, CATL is accelerating the expansion of its battery-swapping business. At the beginning of July, the company reported 2,000 Choco battery-swapping stations for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, reaffirming its goal to increase this number to 3,000 locations in 190 cities by the end of the year. This target has now been raised to 4,000 locations.
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