Next-generation EV batteries: Who's building them, what they promise, when they hit the market

The next big battle in electric vehicles is increasingly moving inside the battery pack.

Automakers and battery giants are racing to solve the biggest complaints about EVs — long charging times, limited range, cold-weather performance, battery degradation and high costs — while making batteries safer and easier to manufacture.

At a technology event in Beijing in late April, CATL, the world's largest EV-battery maker, showcased the latest generation of its Shenxing battery technology to nearly 1,000 attendees.

The company's pitch was striking: its third-generation Shenxing battery can reportedly charge from 10% to 98% in less than 6½ minutes.

That puts it ahead of BYD's second-generation Blade battery, which the company says can charge from 10% to 97% in about nine minutes.

But ultra-fast charging is only one front in the battery race.

Here is a look at the next generation of EV batteries by chemistry, manufacturer, key technology and expected market timing.

Maker: CATL
Type: Lithium iron phosphate (LFP)
Product: Shenxing third generation
Key feature: Extremely fast charging
Market timing: Expected to enter vehicles from 2026

CATL's Shenxing platform is aimed at making fast charging an everyday EV feature rather than a premium technology.

The third-generation version is based on LFP chemistry, traditionally valued for its lower cost, long cycle life and thermal stability compared with nickel-rich batteries.

The headline improvement is charging speed: CATL says the new battery can go from 10% to 98% in less than 6½ minutes.

That could fundamentally change the EV refuelling experience.

Instead of waiting 20 to 30 minutes for a meaningful recharge, drivers could potentially add hundreds of kilometres of range during a coffee or bathroom stop.

The challenge is that achieving such charging rates requires not only the battery but also high-power charging infrastructure, suitable vehicle electronics and a grid capable of supplying enormous bursts of electricity.

Maker: BYD
Type: LFP
Product: Second-generation Blade Battery
Key feature: Faster charging, high energy density and structural integration
Market timing: 2026

BYD's Blade Battery has become one of the best-known LFP technologies in the industry.

The second-generation version is designed to address one of the traditional weaknesses of LFP batteries: lower energy density compared with nickel-rich chemistries.

BYD says its new Blade battery can charge from 10% to 97% in nine minutes.

The company's strategy is not simply to make the battery bigger. It has focused heavily on cell-to-pack integration, reducing the amount of structural material surrounding individual cells and using the battery pack more efficiently.

The result is a battery architecture designed to combine:

The bigger significance of Blade is that it helped demonstrate that LFP could compete in mainstream EVs without relying on expensive nickel and cobalt.

Maker: CATL
Type: Nickel-rich lithium-ion
Product: Qilin
Key feature: Very high pack-level energy density
Market timing: Already entering/available in selected vehicles

If Shenxing represents the charging-speed race, Qilin represents the range race.

CATL's Qilin battery uses advanced cell-to-pack architecture to squeeze more usable energy into the same physical space.

CATL has claimed pack-level energy density of up to 255 Wh/kg for its ternary version.

That matters because higher energy density means automakers can either: put more range into the same-size battery — or use a smaller battery to achieve the same range.

The latter can reduce weight and cost.

Qilin illustrates a crucial trend in battery development: innovation isn't necessarily about inventing an entirely new chemistry. Better packaging, cooling, materials and manufacturing can deliver major gains from existing chemistries.

Several carmakers use CATL's Qilin battery, notably including Geely (via Zeekr), Seres (via AITO), and Li Auto. Other brands like Avatr and Xiaomi also integrate this advanced cell-to-pack technology into select high-performance electric

Maker: CATL
Type: Sodium-ion
Key feature: Lower dependence on lithium; better cold-weather performance
Market timing: 2026

Sodium-ion batteries are among the industry's most closely watched alternatives to conventional lithium-ion technology.

CATL's Naxtra platform is designed around sodium rather than lithium.

Sodium is much more abundant and potentially less exposed to the supply-chain pressures associated with lithium and other battery minerals.

The trade-off is energy density.

Sodium-ion batteries generally store less energy per kilogram than the best lithium-ion cells.

But that may not matter for every vehicle.

They could be particularly attractive for:

CATL says Naxtra is targeting commercialisation in 2026.

Maker: BYD
Type: Sodium-ion
Key feature: Lower-cost energy storage and reduced lithium dependence
Market timing: Expected commercialization from 2026

BYD is also moving sodium-ion technology toward mass production.

The significance is less about replacing every lithium battery and more about creating another battery chemistry for the industry's toolbox.

Think of it as similar to having different engines for different vehicles.

A premium long-range EV may benefit from a high-energy-density nickel-based battery.

A mass-market city EV may not need that.

For that vehicle, a cheaper sodium-ion pack could make more sense.

Makers: Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Samsung SDI, QuantumScape and others
Type: Solid-state
Key feature: Higher energy density and potentially greater safety
Market timing: Late 2020s to early 2030s, depending on manufacturer

Solid-state batteries are arguably the most ambitious technology in development.

Today's lithium-ion batteries use a liquid or gel electrolyte to move ions between the electrodes.

A solid-state battery replaces that electrolyte with a solid material.

In theory, that could enable:

But solid-state batteries remain difficult and expensive to manufacture at automotive scale.

Toyota has been particularly aggressive in targeting commercial solid-state EV batteries toward the late 2020s.

The challenge isn't proving that the chemistry works in a laboratory.

It is producing millions of reliable cells cheaply and consistently.

Maker: Toyota
Type: Solid-state
Key feature: Long range + fast charging
Market timing: Targeted for 2027–2028

Toyota has positioned solid-state batteries as a major component of its next EV strategy.

The company has said its next-generation batteries could significantly increase range while reducing charging times.

Toyota has discussed ranges approaching 1,000 km for some future battery-electric vehicles, depending on the configuration and testing standard.

But Toyota's real challenge will be manufacturing.

If it can overcome production difficulties, solid-state could represent a major technological jump rather than an incremental improvement.

Maker: Nissan
Type: All-solid-state
Key feature: Higher energy density, faster charging and potentially lower cost
Market timing: Pilot production in 2028

Nissan is developing its own all-solid-state battery technology and has targeted 2028 for the launch of EVs using the technology.

The company is building a pilot plant to develop the manufacturing process.

Nissan's objective is not simply greater range.

It sees solid-state technology as a way to potentially reduce battery costs, which could make EVs more competitive with gasoline-powered vehicles.

The EV battery industry is unlikely to converge on a single chemistry. Instead, the market is moving toward battery specialization. LFP is becoming the workhorse for affordable and mainstream EVs.

Nickel-rich lithium-ion remains attractive when maximum range and energy density matter.

Sodium-ion could become an important low-cost alternative where extreme range isn't necessary. It could also drive stationary powerplants.

Solid-state could eventually occupy the premium, high-performance end of the market if manufacturers solve the production problem.

And ultra-fast charging may become just as important as energy density.

For now, CATL's 6-1/2-minute claim matters. The next generation of EVs may not simply ask:

If battery companies can bring charging times down from today's 20–30 minutes to five to 10 minutes, while simultaneously lowering costs and improving range, one of the biggest psychological barriers to EV adoption — range anxiety and charging anxiety — begins to disappear.

The competitive advantage will then shift from simply having a bigger battery to having a better battery ecosystem: chemistry + cell design + thermal management + software + charging infrastructure + manufacturing scale.

And that is where CATL, BYD, Toyota, Nissan and the other battery giants are now fighting the next battle of the electric-car revolution.