Chinese battery manufacturing giant, CATL, has launched a new semi-solid state battery that can deliver a range of up to 930 miles (1500km). On display at the Beijing motor show 2026, the new battery is called the Qilin Compressed battery. It uses NCM chemistry, which is a more cobalt-heavy variation of the familiar NMC li-ion batteries in most modern EVs.
Now, to go back to basics, most of today’s electric cars use either LFP or NMC chemistry, and you can read all about the pros and cons in our explainer.
The EVs that we drive today nearly all use a liquid electrolyte, which is the volatile bit in high voltage batteries that can cause thermal runaway if the cell is heavily damaged.
This new ‘compressed’ battery chemistry uses compressed gel in place of that liquid, making for a much more stable electrolyte. CATL maintains that you could actually cut the battery in half, and it wouldn’t leak any fluid, nor catch fire. We can’t claim to have tried that out ourselves, mind you…
The battery is also extremely energy dense, meaning that you get more range per kilogram of battery. For a bit of context, if you tried to get this kind of range out of an LFP battery, you’d be looking at a battery pack that weighs some 400kg more than CATL’s new Qilin compressed battery – which is estimated to be around 170kWh. It’s light enough that it may even make it into electric aeroplanes. And also into the sea-to-air low altitude flying vehicle (heli-plane?!) that the battery giant showcased on its stand at Beijing.
For some context, the longest range car in Europe is now the new Mercedes EQS with its WLTP range of 574 miles, although the Lucid Air held that record previously with its claimed range of 521 miles, so the new battery from CATL is quite a breakthrough.
There are others working on similarly long-range cars. BYD is also a global leader in battery tech, and has launched the Seal 08 at Beijing motor show 2026, which has a range of 621 miles (1,000km) from its new, more energy dense LFP ‘Blade Battery 2.0’. Mind you, the range figure for the Seal 08 and for the CATL compressed battery are according to the Chinese 'CLTC' test, which is a touch more optimistic than the official WLTP figures that we use in Europe. Even so - it's impressive range, isn't it?!
The Seal 08 also has new ‘flash charging’ tech, which can recharge some 249 miles (400km) in four minutes. There’s no word on whether the Seal 08 – nor any model using the new CATL semi-solid-state battery – is coming to Europe and the UK any time soon.
When will you be able to buy a car with over 900 miles of range?
We don’t know yet, is the honest answer. BYD hasn't confirmed whether the Seal 08 will come to Europe, and CATL hasn't confirmed which manufacturers will use its new semi-solid-state battery. It's likely that it’ll be a year or two, at least, before we see this kind of range on sale. But, CATL supplied some 40% of the global EV battery market in 2025, and with BYD and various others including BMW, Mercedes, Polestar, Tesla, Xpeng, Zeekr and others also making great strides with ultra-long range EVs, it won’t be long before this tech trickles into Europe.
