New EV Battery Charges in 6 Minutes, Drives 930 Miles

The biggest obstacles keeping people from buying electric vehicles might have just been solved in a lab in China.

CATL, the world's largest EV battery maker, announced Tuesday that its latest battery can power a car for 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) on a single charge. That's farther than the distance from New York to Miami, and 50% longer than the company's previous battery could manage.

But the range breakthrough is only half the story. CATL also revealed an upgraded charging battery called Shenxing that powers up from 10% to 98% in just six and a half minutes. To put that in perspective, you could charge your EV faster than it takes to grab a coffee and use the restroom at a highway rest stop.

These advances tackle the two most common concerns that keep consumers from switching to electric vehicles. "Will I run out of charge on a long trip?" and "How long will I be stuck at a charging station?" Both questions just got much easier to answer.

CATL isn't working alone in this battery revolution. The company and its main competitor BYD together control more than half the global EV battery market, and they're investing billions into research and development. Their competition is driving rapid innovation that seemed impossible just a few years ago.

The Ripple Effect

This technology race is creating benefits far beyond faster charging times. CATL announced plans to build 100,000 charging and battery swapping stations across China by 2028, working with a group of Chinese automakers. The infrastructure buildout will make EV ownership more convenient for millions of drivers.

The company is also starting mass production of sodium-ion batteries by year's end. This new battery chemistry reduces dependence on lithium, cobalt, and nickel, materials that are expensive to mine and sometimes sourced under questionable labor conditions. More sustainable batteries mean cleaner electric vehicles from production to disposal.

Robin Zeng, CATL's billionaire founder, told reporters that "the boundaries of electrochemistry are still far from being reached." Translation: We're only seeing the beginning of what's possible with battery technology.

The falling cost of batteries combined with these technological leaps is accelerating the global transition to electric transportation. What seemed like science fiction a decade ago is becoming standard equipment, and the pace of improvement shows no signs of slowing.

Your next electric vehicle might charge faster than your phone and drive farther than most people travel in a week.