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The world’s largest battery maker continues to showcase why it’s the name to beat in its given segment. During the Shanghai Auto Show, CATL launched a new condensed battery that delivers the proper safety and energy density to enable the flight of electric passenger planes. If this technology sounds like it’s still several years away, think again – CATL expects to begin mass production sooner than you’d think.

CATL remains the name to beat in EV battery development, not only in China, where it is headquartered, but around the entire globe. This past February, the company emerged yet again as the largest battery market share holder on the planet for a sixth straight year.

Today’s product launch is merely the latest breakthrough in a battery technology road map that extends further than any other competitor to date. For example, in the summer of 2021, CATL unveiled its first-generation sodium-ion battery, delivering an energy density of 160 Wh/kg.

A year later, the company was touting its energy-dense M3P cells, followed by its cell-to-pack (CTP) Qilin batteries, which recently entered full-scale production and are being integrated into EV models like the ZEEKR 009.

Having already staked its claim in EV batteries and swapping technologies, CATL now looks to the sky and says it will deliver a high energy density battery that can support electric planes.

electric plane battery
Credit: CATL

CATL expects to mass-produce electric plane battery in 2023

The battery technology leader shared details of its new condensed battery during a presentation at the Shanghai Auto Show today, showcasing that a single cell offers an energy density of up to 500
Wh/kg.

For comparison, the aforementioned Qilin cells promise up to 255 Wh/kg, so CATL has nearly doubled that number, opening the door to new opportunities like electric plane propulsion. CATL explains its technology best:

To address the changes of the super high energy density materials resulting from electrochemical reactions, CATL’s condensed battery leverages highly conductive biomimetic condensed state electrolytes to construct a micron-level self-adaptive net structure that can adjust the interactive forces among the chains, thus improving the conductive performance of the cells and in turn the efficiency of lithium ion transporting while boosting stability of the microstructure. What is more, condensed battery integrates a range of innovative technologies, including the ultra-high energy density cathode materials, innovative anode materials, separators, and manufacturing processes, offering excellent charge and discharge performance as well as good safety performance.

CATL states that this cutting-edge battery technology provides a high level of safety in a more lightweight package, enabling an entirely new scenario of electric mobility – particularly electric passenger planes. CATL shared it is already working with electric plane development partners to learn and practice aviation-level safety, quality, and testing standards.

The company says it believes it can achieve mass production of the condensed battery in a short period. Before the new cells are integrated into electric planes, CATL says it will launch an automotive-grade version, which is expected to reach mass production this year.

If that EV-specific cell is anywhere near 500 Wh/kg, it may prove to be a game changer in the all-electric range as it still awaits viable scaled production of long-promised solid-state batteries. Whether in the sky or on roads, CATL’s new condensed battery is technology to keep a close eye on.

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Tesla (TSLA) soars on Trump making easier path for Tesla’s non-existent self-driving tech

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Tesla (TSLA) soars on Trump making easier path for Tesla's non-existent self-driving tech

Tesla (TSLA) is soaring in anticipation that Trump’s administration will make an easier path for Tesla’s self-driving tech, which still doesn’t work, to be approved federally.

Currently, self-driving technology is addressed at the state level, with each state having its own regulations for approving self-driving systems on its roads.

During a conference call following Tesla’s last earnings results, CEO Elon Musk, who has been financially backing the reelection of Donald Trump and “fully endorsed” him, hinted that he could work with the new federal government to get a federal self-driving approval process going.

Now, Bloomberg reports that Trump’s transition team is discussing making it a priority:

Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team have told advisers they plan to make a federal framework for fully self-driving vehicles one of the Transportation Department’s priorities, according to people familiar with the matter.

This news sent Tesla’s stock up 7%, or an increase of 470 billion in value.

That’s surprising because before now, the regulatory aspect of Tesla’s self-driving effort didn’t seem like the biggest hurdle – making the technology work still seems to be the biggest hurdle.

Tesla has been wrong about its self-driving timeline too many times to count, but the latest one is to release unsupervised self-driving in California and Texas in Q2 2025.

Ashok Elluswamy, the head of FSD at Tesla, stated that Tesla’s goal is to achieve over 600,000 miles between critical disengagement, which is based on NHTSA’s data of accidents between human-driven miles.

Tesla has not released any data about its self-driving effort, and therefore, the best data available is crowdsourced. That data currently shows about 241 miles between critical disengagement:

Tesla would need a 2,500x improvement in miles between disengagement to reach a safer-than-human level, which has been the goal before getting regulatory approval.

Electrek’s Take

That sounds like a much bigger hurdle than getting regulatory approval.

I actually agree with the Trump administration that it makes more sense to have a federal framework for approving self-driving systems than at the state level.

But I don’t see how it will help Tesla since there’s no clear path to Tesla achieving a level safer than human with their current approach any time soon.

At the current pace, the 2,500x improvement would take 10 years and we have yet to see a significant acceleration to the pace of improvement.

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Liberty Energy stock jumps after Trump picks CEO Chris Wright as energy secretary

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Liberty Energy stock jumps after Trump picks CEO Chris Wright as energy secretary

Liberty Oilfield Services CEO Chris Wright at Liberty January 17, 2018.

Andy Cross | Denver Post | Getty Images

Shares of Liberty Energy rose on Monday after President-elect Donald Trump picked CEO Chris Wright as energy secretary.

Liberty Energy is an oilfield services company headquartered in Denver, Colorado with a market capitalization of $2.7 billion.

The shares were up 5% in premarket trading Monday.

Wright will step down as CEO and chairman of the board at Liberty upon his confirmation as energy secretary, according to a company statement Monday. Liberty plans to appoint Ron Gusek to succeed Wright as CEO, and William Kimble as chairman.

Wright also serves as board member at Oklo, a nuclear startup backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that is developing micro reactors. Oklo’s stock surged nearly 10% in premarket trading.

Wright will also serve as a board member of the president-elect’s Council on National Energy. The CEO has denied that climate change is a global crisis that requires a transition away from fossil fuels.

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Liberty Energy, 1 day

Trump wants to increase fossil fuel production in the U.S., though analysts and industry heavyweights such as Exxon CEO Darren Woods have said oil and natural gas output in the U.S. will not change in response to the election.

The U.S. has been the biggest crude oil producer in the world since 2018, outpacing Russia and Saudi Arabia.

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Saldivar’s Trucking: first owner-operator to deploy Volvo VNR Electric semi

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Saldivar's Trucking: first owner-operator to deploy Volvo VNR Electric semi

Owner-operators are a huge part of the heavy truck market, and they’ve been among the most hesitant groups to transition from diesel to electric semi trucks. That may be changing, however, as Saldivar’s Trucking becomes first independent owner-operator in the US to deploy a Volvo VNR Electric Class 8 truck.

The higher up-front cost of electric semi trucks has been a huge obstacle for smaller fleets. That’s there are incentives from governments, utilities, and even non-profits to help overcome that initial obstacle. And the smart dealers are the ones who are putting in the hours to learn about those incentives, educate their customers, and ultimately sell more vehicles.

TEC Equipment is a smart dealer, and they worked closely with South Coast Air Quality Management District to secure the CARB funding and ensure Saldivar’s was able to ssecure $410,000 in funding from CARB’s On-Road Heavy-Duty Voucher Incentive Program (HVIP), which provides funding to replace older, heavy-duty trucks with zero-emission vehicles. The program is directed exclusively to small fleets with 10 vehicles or less that operate in California and aims to bridge the gap between the regulatory push for clean transportation and the financial realities faced by small business owners.

“TEC Equipment has been instrumental in supporting owner-operators like Saldivar’s Trucking through the transition to battery-electric vehicles,” explains Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America. “Their dedication to providing comprehensive support and securing necessary funding demonstrates how crucial dealer partners are in turning the vision of owning a battery-electric vehicle into a reality for fleets of all sizes.”

Saldivar’s Volvo VNR Electric features a six-battery configuration, with 565 kWh of storage capacity and a 250 kW charging capability. The zero-tailpipe emission truck can charge to 80% in 90 minutes to provide a range of up to 275 miles.

Those specs mean the Volvo electric semi is more than capable of meeting Saldivar’s operational needs, which include night shifts at California ports covering 175-200 miles per night, five nights a week. And, as he adds his VNR Electric miles to Volvo’s ever-growing tally, other owner-operators will see that it works for them, too.

“While large fleets often make headlines for their ambitious investments in battery-electric vehicles, nearly half of the 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the U.S. are owner-operators running their businesses with just one truck,” adds Voorhoeve. “These small operations face unique challenges, from the initial capital investment to securing adequate charging infrastructure … this collaboration is a perfect example of the important role to be played by truck dealers and why stakeholders need to work together to succeed in this new era of sustainable transportation.” We need solutions that work for different fleets of all sizes in the marketplace,” added Voorhoeve.”

Electrek’s Take

Saldivar’s Trucking poses with $410,000 incentive check; via Volvo Trucks.

Electrifying America’s commercial trucking fleet can’t happen soon enough – for the health of the people who live and work near these vehicles, the health of the planet they drive on, and (thanks to their substantially lower operating costs) the health of the businesses that deploy them. TEC is doing a great job advancing the cause, and acting as true expert partners for their customers.

You love to see it.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Trucks, via ACT News.

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