Source: Mark Baker/Aap.
Driving from Sydney to Melbourne on a single charge is on the horizon for Australia’s EV drivers after reports Hyundai and Kia may have inked a deal with the world’s largest battery company to see up to 140,000 EVs get a whopping 1000-kilometre range.
It comes after Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Eui-sun recently met with Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) CEO Zeng Yuquan in South Korea, according to reports in Chosun Biz. The automotive multinational has used battery technology from the tech titan since 2021.
It’s thought the pair discussed CATL’s latest offering, a third-generation cell-to-pack (CTP) battery technology called Qilin that offers EV drivers up to 1000km of range after a 10-minute charge — something that would spell the end to regional and rural concerns in Australia regarding scant charging stations.
The Qilin battery was first snapped up by Chinese car titan Geely in a five-year deal, which is boasting its futuristic Zeekr 009 people mover will actually offer “in excess of” 1000km. Geely registered an Australian trademark for the name last December, though there’s no word of a local launch date yet. The Australian price guide is $127,000, Zeekr says.
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It’s a race to the top for car manufacturers when it comes to EVs going the distance. Chinese electric vehicle startups Li Auto and Hozon New Energy Automobile have also signed a deal for the 1000km battery, while the GAC Aion LX Plus SUV went on sale in China earlier this year with a 1008km driving range.
Hyundai’s Porter EV, Kia Niro EV and Bongo EV will reportedly be among the first of its models to be fitted with the high-tech battery, with the supercharged lineup to hit the European and Korean markets first before being released in other regions, including Australia.
More locally, Hyundai is already spruiking its Ioniq 6’s 614-kilometre driving range, which will hit Australian shores in early 2023. That brings the Ioniq in line with Tesla 3’s driving range (602km), Tesla Model S (652km) and BMW iX (630km), all available in Australia right now.
CATL says the Qilin battery has a “volume utilisation efficiency” of 72%, compared to 59% in Tesla’s cylindrical 4680 batteries (BMW uses this shape too), with an energy density of up to 255 Wh/kg — making it “the highest integration level worldwide so far”, according to CATL.
The Qilin battery — which is named after a mythological Chinese creature — takes just 10 minutes to charge, according to CATL, with a hot start in five minutes flat thanks to a liquid cooling process that promotes heat transfer and slashes thermal control time in half.
CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer, is also known as the most competitively priced against fellow heavy-hitters LG Energy Solutions, SK On, and Samsung SDI. CATL already supplies batteries to Tesla as well as Ford and BMW — meaning the Qilin could become the industry’s go-to battery before long.
In the month of November, EVs made up 4.7% of all cars sold in Australia, according to sales figures from industry group FCAI.
Here are the top five most popular EVs in Oz and how far they can travel on a single charge.
I do love the false comment none drives a 1000 kilometres a day.
Just when you know they live in a world not called reality
Brisbane to Sydney and Sydney to Melbourne.. both about 1000 km. These routes are very busy. Every day
Lots of people living in regional cities and towns as well as people living and or working in remote areas of Australia drive around 1000 km or more fairly frequently. Not to mention for government departments and trades and businesses travelling to more remote locations for work purpos s. As well this would be a boon for major cities for taxis, commercial delivery and trade vehicles etc. I do trips of 1200 km a day from time to time.
I beg to differ. I’ve driven more than 1000 k’s in a day many times travelling between Darwin and Sydney to see the family.
Apparently you do not drive long distances as we in Australia are prone to do.
Considering that the advertised range is from testing with no passengers at lower than highway speeds and with no hills. Wind. Luggage. Tha reality is that in Oz the expected highway range is around 80 percent of the stated. So. A 1000 km car could realistically get 800 km at highway speeds with two passengers and air con or heate and luggage. That for Oz is pretty close to what would be required. Noting the other comment. My wife and I drive at least 600 km a day between adel and bris. And going to Perth around 1000 in one day across the Nullarbor. So. A 1000 km range (800 realistically usable) is a definite requirement for anyone driving interstate. incidentally my ranger has a 800 km range and in the bush that is essential.
What is the expected life of these batteries, and what is the approx cost of replacement??
Battery life is expected to be easily over 25 years.
The whole concept of EV’s is fatally flawed because global warming doesn’t exist.
I totaly agree. I just wish that one of these idiots had the balls to answer my question about costs.
What if I told you it’s not all about whatever you consider global warming to be.
Quiet, cheap to run, torque-y for starters
It’s funny how the Chinese expect their patents to be respected, but infringe on everyone else’s. If this were a western company with battery technology, the Chinese would be doing their best to copy and ignore copyright.
Where is the power infrastructure going to come from to dump a full charge in 10mins? The existing public type 2 chargers (Chargefox) are mostly 7kwh which is about 8 hours for full charge (Kona).
Not a single word about the chemistry? I’m disappointed in your journalism.
In standard atmospheric conditions 20C, 1015 mm Hg, nil wind the numbers are probably right. But extreme heat, cold, humidity, etc deplete batteries unmercifully. Going to take more than a press release to gain credibility..
Great, not worth buying outdated EV’,S, I’ll stick with gas untill then
Interesting times. We are told everyone will eventually go electric. How will we charge all those vehicles from a struggling grid. And when the grid is struggling will it take energy back from your car to compensate leaving you with very little range. This in itself makes driving 1000 km on a 10 min charge questionable.
They had an energ specialist speaking on a talk show in America. He said when charging 1 electric car it was like plugging in 25 large fridge’s, now most people have 2 cars so 50 fridge’s. He said the grid wouldn’t handle it . I bet he’s right.
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