TapTechNews May 22nd news, according to the CaiLianShe report, at the BEYOND International Technology Innovation Expo held in Macau, Zeng Yuqun, the chairman of CATL, said that in the field of electric aircraft, CATL is conducting cooperative development.
Zeng Yuqun stated, 'We need to start from small aircraft, from 1 ton aircraft to 8.8 ton aircraft. Currently we have been test-flying a 4-ton aircraft. But to reach the commercial level requires aircraft above 8 tons, so we still need to continue to work hard to promote, and it is expected to be launched and applied in 2027 and 2028.'
Zeng Yuqun also said: 'We have invested 10 billion US dollars in 10 years, and last year we invested 2.5 billion US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 18.1 billion yuan) in R & D expenses. For example, new materials, chemistry. People say I have such materials, these are just a certain component, our new materials can put these elements together to make the performance better.'
On April 19 last year, CATL officially released the condensed state battery at the Shanghai Auto Show site. Wu Kai, the chief scientist of CATL, disclosed that CATL's condensed state battery is conducting cooperative development for the civilian electric manned aircraft project. The single energy density of the condensed state battery can reach up to 500 watt-hours/kg, which can take into account both high specific energy and high safety. By contrast, the current mainstream ternary lithium battery energy density is about 250 watt-hours/kg; the energy density of lithium iron phosphate battery is basically 180 watt-hours/kg.