In just over 6 minutes, CATL’s new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery can be fully recharged, beating out BYD’s Blade Battery 2.0.
CATL unveils new LFP EV battery with 6-min charging
Recent battery breakthroughs, like BYD’s Blade Battery 2.0, launched last month, are enabling EVs to charge up in less than 10 minutes, or essentially as quickly as filling up a gas tank.
During its Tech Day Event on Tuesday, global battery leader CATL introduced its latest Shenxing LFP battery, capable of ultra-fast charging in just over 6 minutes.
CATL’s third-generation Shenxing battery can charge from 10% to 98% in 6 minutes and 27 seconds. In just 1 minute, the battery charges from 10% to 35%, while charging from 10% to 80% takes 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
Even at temperatures as low as -30°C (-20°F), CATL said its new LFP battery can recharge from 20% to 98% in as little as 9 minutes.
In comparison, BYD’s Blade Battery 2.0 and Flash Charging tech enable EVs to recharge from 10% to 97% in 9 minutes. To charge the battery from 10% to 70%, it takes 5 minutes. At -30°C (-20°F), the battery can recharge from 20% to 97% in 12 minutes.
CATL said its latest LFP battery achieves a world-record internal resistance of 0.25 milliohms, about 50% lower than the average, helping unlock ultra-fast charging speeds.
For better performance in cold weather at any fast charging station, the battery features a unique new self-heating pulse technology.
BYD has already introduced its new battery and Flash Charging tech overseas. After launching the Denza Z9 GT EV in Europe earlier this month, BYD’s executive vice president Stella Li said the luxury electric shooting brake is “the perfect choice to introduce the principle of ‘Ready in 5, Full in 9, Cold Add 3’ to the world, as we start our global rollout of FLASH Charging in Europe.”
CATL also announced a new partnership with SAIC-GM-Wuling last week to develop fast-charging tech capable of charging in 10 minutes or less and battery-swap-compatible EVs.
The company said it will “jointly explore overseas market expansion” as part of its work toward “energy freedom” and a sustainable future.
Electrek’s Take
While CATL’s third-gen Shenxing battery can charge slightly faster than BYD’s Blade Battery 2.0, anything under 10 minutes is a significant improvement over traditional lithium-ion batteries.
Top comment by Leo O'Connor
When I see Hyundai make cheaper cars I think it is such a wasted opportunity for them to backslide into 400v when they should be leaning into 800v so they can scale that up and make it as cheap for themselves as possible. Especially when they had 10-80% in 18 minutes years ago and most of their new cars are now 400v to just be cheaper I think they are missing the point. When these Chinese brands are coming out with this as we are backsliding from one of the best EV brands when even the fastest charging time is well over double these examples above, it is disheartening.
Perhaps, even more importantly, the new electric vehicle batteries maintain their performance in extremely cold weather.
CATL and BYD already lead the global EV battery market by a wide margin. But both are betting on new battery technologies, such as sodium-ion, NCM, and solid-state batteries, to stay ahead.
According to SNE Research, CATL led global EV battery sales in 2025, accounting for 39.2% of the market. BYD ranked second with a 16.4% market share.
One thing is certain: Electric vehicles will only get more efficient over the next few years with improvements in driving range, charging speeds, safety, and durability.
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