Chinese EV battery maker CATL unveils LFP battery with 1,000 km range

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery maker CATL on Thursday unveiled a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery with a driving range of more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) on a single charge.

The Shenxing Plus is the world's first LFP battery boasting such a range, Chief Technology Officer Gao Huan of CATL's e-car division said on the first media day of the Beijing auto show.

LFP batteries are environmentally friendlier than the lithium-ion batteries more commonly used in EVs.

Four car models use the current-generation Shenxing battery with its 700 km range, and over 50 more models will be equipped with it by year-end, Gao said.

The world's largest EV battery maker, formally Contemporary Amperex Technology, saw profit swing to growth in January-March after three months earlier posting its first quarterly profit fall since 2022 amid slowing demand and intensified competition.

Chinese battery makers including CATL grew faster than rivals to account for more than two-thirds of global EV battery capacity last year, showed data from consultancy Counterpoint Research.

In March, CATL's chairman said the manufacturer is in discussions to establish research and development centres in Hong Kong to underpin technology exports.

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li and Brenda Goh; Additional writing by Liz Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing)