Zeng Yuqun, chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), in Ningde, Fujian province, China, in 2020.
Qilai Shen—Bloomberg/Getty Images

Based in Fujian, China, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) is the world’s largest EV-battery maker, and the one to beat in battery tech. This spring it started mass-­producing the new Qilin battery, which can extend EV range to 600 miles on a single charge. (U.S. EVs average about 300 miles.) In April, it unveiled new technology for a semi-solid-state lithium battery it says will store nearly twice as much energy as the best ones on the market today, further expanding EV range and bringing electric passenger planes closer. Most groundbreaking innovations come with caveats that commercial development is years off, but CATL says this one will be in production in six months.

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Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro.delagarza@time.com.

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