SAIC’s upscale EV brand, CATL allying on new battery tech to allow 1,000km range

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Zhiji Motor, a premium BEV brand SAIC Motor announced last month, is working with CATL on the development of the so-called “silicon-doped lithium supplement battery cell" technology, which is expected to enable a range of up to 1,000km for electric vehicles (EVs), according to a local media outlet, quoting people familiar with the project.

Photo credit: SAIC Motor

Both parties will share the technology patent and team up on conducting various complete vehicle tests, according to the report. Besides, the power batteries carrying the technology will go into volume production in the future.

The energy capacity of the year-to-be-launched batteries will be 30% to 40% higher than the current industry leading level, Liu Tao, deputy head of Zhiji Auto's preparatory team, said after being reached for comment by the local media channel. He added the battery is able to achieve a maximum range of 1,000km and zero capacity attenuation for 200,000km.

“Given the cost-related factor, the EV model with 1,000-km range is set to hit the market over the next five years,” said Mr. Liu, adding that the battery boasts reliable safety thanks to the optimization of the cell material formula, the encapsulation technology of full-casting aluminum battery pack shell as well as the device-cloud management for BMS (battery management system).

SAIC Motor and the government of Pudong New Area formed a strategic cooperation on Nov. 26 for the joint development of Zhiji Motor, a fire new premium intelligent BEV brand, with the project being launched at the same time.

According to SAIC Motor, the “Zhiji Motor” project is co-developed by SAIC Motor, Pudong New Area and the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. As a user-centric technology and innovation company, Zhiji Motor is dedicated to becoming “a fulfiller of the travelling revolution in intelligence era”, and will go all out to explore the SDV (software-defined vehicle) ecosystem and achieve win-win outcomes for both users and companies' values.

Liu Tao said the first model under Zhiji brand will be available with software & hardware architecture redundancy solutions that are compatible with LiDARs. Moreover, Zhiji Motor's AVP (automated valet parking) function is expected for practical application at the end of 2021 in some business districts in Shanghai and likely to step into other first-tier cities in 2022.