Li Mega shatters charging records with CATL’s 5C battery

Li Auto’s Li Mega MPV broke its first record before it’s even officially unveiled. The car achieved a mind-boggling peak charging rate of 552 kW. Even as the battery surged past the 80% mark, the vehicle could still pull in a hefty 315 kW of power.

This enabled the EV's sizeable battery to go from 10% to 80% in just 10 minutes. In fact the 6% to 80% took just 11 minutes and 2 seconds, absorbing 77.3 kWh of energy in that span.

The previously reigning champion was the Xpeng G9, which had a maximum charging speed of 445 kW. The Lotus Eletre and the Porsche Taycan, respected names in their own right, go up to 430 kW and 270 kW, respectively.

But what gives the Li Mega its edge? A sizable nod goes to CATL’s Qilin battery, boasting a 5C charge rate. In layman's terms, the "C" metric indicates how many times a battery can be charged in one hour - in theory, and in perfect conditions of course. In this instance, five times, theoretically allowing a full charge in 12 minutes.

Making this all the more noteworthy is the fact that the Li Mega MPV is Li Auto's debut foray into fully electric vehicles. Previously, the company was all about electric range extended vehicles (EREVs).

Now if we were to look at the bigger picture that's still not the fastest way to get a flat battery to full. Nio's latest swapping latest generation Swap Station can replace one for the other in about 3 minutes.

Li Mega spotted on a street in China

Li Auto remains focused on China for now, though, with international launch not coming until 2028.

Via