Chinese startup claims breakthrough with EV battery that overcomes cold weather

Greater Bay has already become a unicorn — a startup valued at over $1 billion — within two years of its founding. Its first-generation battery is an extreme fast charge cell, which aims to recharge an EV in the same amount of time it takes to refill a fuel tank.

The supplier claims it can fully charge within 15 minutes for an average range of 500 kilometers (310 miles) on a charger with sufficient output. This battery is fitted in the V Plus electric SUV from GAC’s Aion, the third-most popular EV brand in China behind BYD and Tesla.

Huang studied automotive engineering in Italy during the 1980s and did postdoctoral work at Fiat’s research center for five years before returning to China in 1991 to teach.

He headed GAC’s R&D Center for 10 years from 2006, during which time many of the company’s popular models such as the GS4 SUV were developed.

Huang retired in 2016 but later co-founded Greater Bay in 2020 with fellow GAC veteran Pei Feng, who serves as the startup’s CEO.

While the journey from development and lab testing to mass production will take some time, the Phoenix battery will be powering some of Aion’s EVs next year and the startup is also in talks with other automakers to use the cell, which has a range of 1,000 kilometers in a single charge according to Huang.

“Once EVs can be driven and maintained like gasoline cars, then there is a greater chance for mass adoption,” he said.