Greater Bay Technology’s Phoenix: The Revolutionary Lithium Battery with 8C Fast Charging and 260Wh/kg Energy Density

A few years ago, it might have seemed that the development of lithium batteries was rather stagnant. Traditional battery manufacturers, like Intel, played their slow game in the field of processors. But a huge number of other companies have sprung up that have taken it seriously, and after years of development it is finally bringing significant technological leaps forward. A company could be one of them Greater Bay Technology (the Chinese car manufacturer GAC is behind it), which introduced new batteries Phoenix.

This technology is meant to reach extremes 8C fast charging, which should theoretically mean such a charging speed that it would be possible to charge the accumulator in 1/8 hour (7.5 minutes). Of course, this does not apply to the entire charging range, however the company claims that 80% of the battery (0-80%) should be charged for 6 minutes. The battery can use a voltage of 300 to 1000 V. Greater Bay claims that the structure of the battery is modified in such a way that there is 18 times more surface area for heat dissipation than conventional solutions. In winter, it should warm up from -20°C to +25°C within 5 minutes.

According to Greater Bay, the new accumulators should have a service life of at least 10 years and 800,000 km (to which the majority of today’s accumulators approach with a reasonable range of over 400 km). The manufacturer talks about the possibility of driving 1,000 km per charge, which would mean a lifespan of about 800 cycles, which, on the other hand, would be rather below average (LCO, NCA are also rather below 1,000 cycles, however, NCM usually has around 1,500-2,500, LFP around 3,000 -5000). Also, we know that China has a very optimistic standard for measuring range, so I would take about 20% off. However, even an 800 km range under reasonable conditions and a service life of approx. 600-650 thousand km would be a very good result.

Energy density is also noteworthy information. She has to do 260 Wh/kg, but not at the level of the cell, but of the entire accumulator (i.e. including packaging, cooling,…). The cells themselves must therefore have a density well over 300 Wh/kg, it can be estimated somewhere around 330-360 Wh/kg. Mass production will start next year, the first cars with it should roll off the production lines at the end of 2024.