People walk past the R&D center of Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) in Ningde, Fujian, China, December 16, 2016. Photo taken on December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Jake Spring/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s CATL (300750.SZ) is working on new battery materials that can improve energy density by 10% to 20% compared to iron phosphate batteries, its chairman said. said. top position in the competition.

A new material technology known as M3P will allow electric vehicles to travel 700 km (430 miles) on a single charge in combination with CATL’s next-generation battery pack technology, Zeng Yuqun said at a meeting in Beijing on Saturday. said at the World New Energy Vehicle Congress.

The new materials will also lower costs compared to nickel- and cobalt-based batteries, he added.

However, Zeng did not disclose the metals used for the M3P battery or when mass production could begin.

With customers such as Tesla (TSLA.O), Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), BMW (BMWG.DE) and Ford (FN), CATL is the world’s largest with more than a third of electric battery sales. is a battery manufacturer. Automobiles (EVs) around the world.

The aim is to accelerate global expansion and innovation of new battery technology, and widen the gap with competitors such as LG Energy Solutions (373220.KS) and BYD.

Wan Gang, vice chairman of China’s National Policy Advisory Board, said the global market size for EV batteries is expected to reach $250 billion by 2030, with demand exceeding 3.5 terawatt hours.read more

In a separate announcement on Saturday, CATL said it will supply its latest battery pack technology to Kirin’s batteries to power Geely Automobile Holdings’ Zeekr vehicles, which hit the market in early 2023.

CALT launched the Qilin battery in June, touting 13% higher energy density compared to a similarly sized pack of Tesla’s 4680 cylindrical battery cells (46mm in diameter and 80mm in length).

Reporting by Zhang Yan and Josh Horwitz.Edited by William Mallard and Simon Cameron Moore

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