Chinese battery giant CATL has unveiled a new battery technology for heavy-duty trucks. It’s not a new chemistry or a new type of cell, but rather a different structure for the battery pack.
Earlier this year, CATL unveiled the Qilin Battery, which uses a cell-to-pack architecture (no modules). The latest innovation is what the company calls an MTB (module-to-bracket) system, which integrates battery modules directly into the vehicle’s chassis. CATL says this enables a 40% increase in battery system utilization and a 10% weight reduction, and also allows the vehicle’s center of gravity to be lowered by 21% for smoother handling.
The MTB battery pack uses a U-shaped water-cooling technology, and is designed for battery swap-enabled heavy trucks and construction machinery.
According to CATL, the packs using this technology have an operating temperature range of -35 to 65 degrees Celsius, can achieve energy densities of 305 Wh/L, offer a cycle life of 10 years or 10,000 cycles, and support capacities of 140 to 600 kWh.
CATL says the new MTB tech will first be used in a battery swap project by Qiyuan Core Power, a subsidiary of State Power Investment Corporation.