This is great news for BEVs. CATL pretty much supplies the entire industry so it could be a psychological step forward for many buyers. Note that most BEV manufacturers now claim the batteries get 300-500k miles now anyway but doubling this figure is a significant achievement.

Battery supplier Catl says new design has one million-mile lifespan

A Chinese car battery-maker says it is ready to manufacture a product capable of powering a vehicle for 1.2 million miles (two million kilometres) across the course of a 16-year lifespan.

By contrast, most automakers only offer warranties ranging from 60,000 to 150,000 miles over a three to eight-year period on their cars' batteries.

Contemporary Amperex Technology has not revealed who it intends to supply.

But it was previously reported that the battery was co-developed with Tesla.

The latest news was revealed in an interview Catl's chairman gave to the Bloomberg news agency.

"If someone places an order, we are ready to produce," it quoted Zeng Yuqun as saying.

He added that it was set, however, to cost a 10% premium over the batteries it already supplies.

The company signed a two-year deal to supply batteries for Tesla's Model 3 cars in February. Its other clients include BMW, Daimler, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionCatl has grown into being the world's top-selling car battery-maker since being established in 2011Demand for electric vehicles is growing.

The European market for EVs and plug-in hybrids grew by 72% in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2019, representing 7% of all delivered new cars, according to research firm Canalys.

By contrast, the pandemic weighed on the wider market, which as a whole saw deliveries down by 26% for the quarter.

The firm said that Catl's claim was "significant but difficult to verify".

"It is likely to be used as a differentiator by some car-makers when there is a significant difference from one vehicle to another - dramatically affecting resale value," said Canalys's chief automotive analyst Chris Jones.

He added that this and other factors - including the wider availability of charging points and longer driving ranges - should help tempt more motorists to make the switch to an electric car.

Scrappage scheme

In February, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC that the UK might ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars as soon as 2032, to help meet the UK's zero-carbon emission targets.

The Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday that the government is considering offering drivers up to £6,000 to swap their existing cars for electric models next month as part of efforts to boost the UK's electric car manufacturing industry.

The Nissan Leaf and Mini Electric are made locally, and Property Week has reported that Tesla is also considering opening its own "gigafactory" car battery plant in England.

However, Catl's own European efforts are currently focused on Germany, where it is building a factory in the eastern town of Erfurt, which is scheduled to start producing lithium-ion car batteries in 2021.

 

400-plus miles of range: 'We intend to lead in battery technologies'

Source

 

Tesla has tentatively scheduled a "battery day" at their Fremont plant to discus future plans on September 22, 2020. It coincides with a stock holders meeting.

...excerpt from a Fortune article,

The automaker has long partnered with Panasonic to produce its batteries, but it has been working to establish in-house battery production, with a focus on scaling to reduce costs. A battery’s cost per kilowatt-hour of storage capacity is a key competitive factor in the electric vehicle market. More storage translates to higher range, a major consideration for prospective buyers of electric vehicles. But batteries are also the key determinant in the total cost of an electric passenger vehicle and whether it is price-competitive with a gas-burning car.

Tesla may also reveal more about its partnership with China’s (CATL), which supplies what are known as lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. As reported by Reuters, the batteries eliminate expensive cobalt from their chemistry. The batteries can also reportedly last for more than 1 million miles of use and recharging, about 3 times as long as the current Model 3’s lithium-ion batteries. That would substantially reduce long-term operating costs.

 

I can't wait for battery day. I hear Lithium Phosphate batteries aren't as energy dense so it may weigh a big more for the same capacity battery. But its seems a good tradeoff if you can also get much longer life. Although frankly, my battery pack will probably last 300k miles but i doubt i'll have the car that long anyway.

 

Range is way more important. What would you rather have, a million mile battery with a range of 300 miles or a 300,000 mile battery with a range of 600 miles.

 

300,000 mile battery. Most don't get close to this mileage anymore before they get something new.

 

I agree but so many people against EVs are terrified of battery degradation when you still have over 90% by 100k miles (verifiable and proved with older Teslas). Lithium phosphate has less battery degradation so if they keep the range the same with almost the same weight, it could be a win for the industry.

 

Even when it becomes the new norm, despite with proved evidence, there will always be a few naysayers. In a few years with better EV infrastructure and EV technology, most of the hubbub will have passed.

 

If I got a dollar for every battery "breakthrough" I saw,
I'd have enough money for a set of new Michelin tires. Yes, I'd be THAT rich.