(Yicai) July 5 -- Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology launched its commercial vehicle power battery brand Tianxing and unveiled two battery packs designed for light commercial autos under it.

The Tianxing L series battery packs include a super-fast charging and long-range version, CATL announced yesterday. The former can be charged to 60 percent in just 12 minutes and has a 350-kilometer range when fully charged and at 80 km per hour on a highway, while the latter can go for 500 km under the same conditions, it added.

Mass production of the two battery packs will commence immediately and will be initially applied to 21 models from 13 carmakers, said Gao Huan, chief technology officer of CATL's domestic commercial business division.

Commercial vehicles have a significantly lower penetration rate of new energy technologies and market attention than passenger ones, an industry insider pointed out, adding that fuel-powered commercial vehicles are major contributors to exhaust emissions such as carbon dioxide.

Commercial vehicles account for only 12 percent of all autos but contribute more than 55 percent of carbon emissions, so their electrification has significant market potential, the industry insider noted.

Sales of new energy commercial vehicles in China surged 119 percent to 47,000 units in May from a year earlier, with their market penetration rate reaching 19 percent, according to the latest data from the China Passenger Car Association. The figure soared 128 percent to 182,000 units in the first five months from a year ago for a market penetration rate of 15 percent.

New energy commercial vehicle sales in China could reach 1.5 million by 2030, while their market penetration rate can likely exceed 30 percent, the CPCA noted.

Ningde-based CATL has developed multiple battery brands for different uses, including the Shenxing and Qilin ones for passenger vehicles and the Tianheng one for the energy storage market.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev