CATL’s Qilin battery to power ZEEKR, AITO models

Beijing (Gasgoo)- CATL’s Qilin battery, the third generation of its cell-to-pack (CTP) technology, will be first used on models from Geely Holding’s ZEEKR brand, both companies announced on Saturday.

Photo credit: CATL

The battery electric ZEEKR 009 MPV will be the first mass-produced vehicle model with Qilin inside and the Qilin-powered version will commence the delivery in the first quarter of 2023. 

Photo credit: CATL

Besides, the ZEEKR 001 will become the first model with 1,000km range Qilin battery, according to the battery company. The brand will start to deliver the Qilin-powered ZEEKR 001 in the second quarter of 2023.

Both parties have signed a five-year strategic cooperation agreement. Their deep cooperation is expected to promote the advancement of new energy vehicle technologies.

The Qilin, which is named after a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, features a record-breaking volume utilization efficiency of 72% and an energy density of up to 255 Wh/kg, and is capable of delivering a range of over 1,000 km in a breeze.

Thanks to the disruptive large-surface cell cooling technology, the battery, launched only two months ago, can support a hot start in 5 minutes and fast charging in 10 minutes. Compared with the 4680 battery with the same chemical system and the same pack size, CATL’s Qilin package can offer 13% more power, the battery giant said.

Photo credit: CATL

On the same day, CATL also announced that its Qilin battery will also power new models from Huawei-backed AITO brand.  Based on their five-year long-term strategic cooperation agreement, all AITO-branded models will be equipped with EV batteries of CATL.