China-based companies have recently been making strides in electric vehicle technology – including the development of a battery that can provide a 320-mile charge in five minutes. This week, KCBS Radio’s Holly Quan spoke to David Welch of Bloomberg about the announcement and whether we could see these batteries in the U.S.
“They have a licensing deal with Ford in Michigan,” Welch said of CATL, a Chinese EV manufacturer.
However, he said he doesn’t expect the super-fast charging battery discussed in Shanghai this week to show up on U.S. roadways any time soon.
“That technology, they say works, but it’s not being built industrialized and commercialized yet,” Welch explained. “But that’s coming. And when the Chinese want to get stuff out, they don’t have a lot of barriers domestically to getting it done. And they tend to move pretty quickly.”
When it comes to the U.S., Welch said that Chinese companies are waiting to see the outcome of the current tariff war kicked off by President Donald Trump. He noted that the CATL licensing deal with Ford is controversial.
“All that’s going on with tariffs, trade talks, trade wars… does kind of throw some of this Chinese EV technology up in the air in terms of getting it to U.S. shores,” said Welch.
He also told Quan that the Chinese typically specialize in, lithium iron phosphate batteries that are different than the lithium ion batteries used in U.S. electric vehicles. These tend to go shorter distances per charge, but they are cheaper to make than the lithium ion batteries.
“BYD, which is the biggest EV maker in the world, and CATL, which has the biggest battery maker in that world – both Chinese companies – have been working on these technologies,” Welch said, adding that it is getting better. Specifically, they are improving the batteries’ power density so they can take a fast charge.
In the U.S., we don’t yet have the infrastructure to fast charge cars with the Chinese batteries, Welch told Quan. Still, the re-released Chevy Bolt expected from General Motors later this year is expected to have a lithium iron phosphate battery.
“They are keeping the range and charge time a secret,” said Welch “So we’ll see what that comes with and whether or not it’s CATL’s technology. I suspect it is.”
Additionally, cars with lithium iron phosphate batteries are smaller than average U.S. cars. They also have limited range.
“I know somebody personally a friend who bought a BYD EV in Mexico… it’s a $29,000 car, slightly smaller than the old Chevy Bolt which means it’s subcompact and he gets I think 220 or 230 miles of range,” he said.