China’s EV juggernauts are focusing on speeding up charge times and increasing the size of batteries in hybrids, but next-generation storage technology is likely some years away, a new report noted.
Industry behemoths BYD and CATL are taking different approaches to cutting EV charging times, Wood Mackenzie analysts said. BYD is deploying a broad “flash-charging ecosystem,” while the latter is pushing fast charging alongside battery-swapping technology.
Timelines for the deployment of solid-state and sodium-ion batteries, seen as the next step in cutting-edge technology, have been delayed, however. At the same time, a moribund domestic economy has driven Chinese EV makers abroad ever faster: BYD is in talks with Stellantis, for example, to take over the European firms’ underutilized factories.
