CATL electric plane to support 2,000 km flight

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, the world's largest electric vehicle maker, disclosed on Tuesday that its electric commercial airplane, which is able to support a flight range of 2,000 to 3,000 kilometers, will "be ready by 2027 or 2028".

It is the first time that the company disclosed the flight range of such a plane, after it has teamed up with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, a China State-owned plane manufacturer, to explore electric passenger airplanes.

Zeng Yuqun, founder of CATL, said that the company has already conducted test flights with a 4-ton civilian aircraft and the samples and panel line product already put into planes.

The company is also "putting more efforts" into the launch of an 8-ton electric aircraft expected by 2027 or 2028, with an expected flight range of around 2,000 to 3,000 kilometers by then, he disclosed.

Zeng made the remarks at a session of the 15th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, that opened in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, on Tuesday.

The company's cutting-edge condensed battery will be used in the frontier plane, he said. With an energy density of up to 500 Wh/kg, the battery can achieve high energy density and a high level of safety at the same time.

On Tuesday, Zeng also disclosed that CATL is developing a new generation of sodium-ion batteries and eyes the release of such batteries for next year.

Such a battery is expected to perform better in terms of cost, lifespan and low-temperature operation. On a technology maturity scale of 1 to 10, CATL's sodium-ion battery project is currently at level 7, he said.

chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn