The Chinese electric car manufacturer NIO has updated the user manual for its electric ES6 crossover and now there is a 150 kWh battery, but this car will be able to travel 930 kilometers on a single charge. The most interesting thing is that it is not a classic lithium-ion battery, but a semi-solid battery. That is, half a step closer to the long-awaited breakthrough in battery technology. These new batteries will be available to order in China this month.
NIO gets these batteries from Beijing WeLion Energy Technology, and the 150 kWh battery weighs 575 kilograms. That’s not a lot, but it’s only 20 kilograms more when compared to the 100 kWh battery found in many of NIO’s current models, supplied by battery giant CATL. This 150kWh battery is reported to have an energy capacity of 261 Wh/kg, while the CATL 100 kWh battery has an energy capacity of 180 Wh/kg. So, the energy capacity per kilogram is significantly higher.
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Back in early 2021, NIO presented its ET7 electric sedan, promising more than 1,000 kilometers on a single charge. It is clear that crossovers are not as aerodynamic as sedans, so the promised 930 kilometers is a very high bar. Here we can add some caveats – the distance covered depends on the weather conditions and also on the used test cycle. This is not the WLTP cycle we are used to, but the test cycle used by the Chinese. It is more optimistic in its results than the WLTP cycle, that is, if 930 kilometers are promised, then in the real world it will be one order less. Exactly how much will be determined in the tests.
It took some time for NIO to be able to increase the production volumes of these battery cells, as well as to make the costs commensurate with other types of batteries. Solid state batteries are considered to be the next big technological breakthrough in batteries. Many billions of euros are being invested in research and many different companies are working on their development, but for now everything is at a fundamental stage of development and it is not clear when these new type of batteries will be widely used in the automotive industry.
2023-07-12 09:00:00
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