30Ah and 50Ah New Products Launched: Cham, a Pioneer Focused on Cylindrical Batteries for Over 20 Years, Secures Positions in Small Power and Small Energy Storage
The growth story of cylindrical batteries is rapidly materializing in the small power and small energy storage markets.
Following the initial market education by Tesla's 4680 battery, the growth engine for large cylindrical batteries is shifting from passenger vehicles to more grounded applications such as two-wheeler battery swapping, light power, and distributed energy storage. LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate), all-tab technology, and large capacity have become the clear main themes.
Data from GGII (High-Tech Industry Research Institute) shows that in 2025, China's large cylindrical battery shipments reached 30GWh, a year-on-year increase of over 130%. Entering 2026, shipments in the first half of the year have already exceeded 800 million units, a year-on-year increase of over 110%, and the full year is expected to break through 50GWh.
Amid this booming trend, Cham New Energy is accelerating its strategic moves. As a leading enterprise that has been deeply engaged in the cylindrical battery track for over 20 years, the company has pushed the capacity boundaries of its mass-produced products up by two levels at once.
From September 18 to 19, this enterprise, which has been deeply engaged in cylindrical batteries for over 20 years, officially launched two new all-tab large cylindrical products, the 46140 and 60140, with single-cell capacities reaching 30Ah and 50Ah, respectively.
At the critical juncture when large cylindrical batteries are transitioning from prototyping to mass production, a dual-track positioning strategy targeting small power and small energy storage has already unfolded.
Small Power and Small Energy Storage: Driving Large Cylindrical Growth in a New Cycle
The most fundamental change in this round of large cylindrical battery volume expansion is the shift in the growth engine.
For vehicle-mounted large cylindrical batteries represented by Tesla's 4680, the pace of volume expansion depends on vehicle model design wins and complete vehicle deliveries, with relatively steady progress; what truly drives the high growth of the industry is the more grounded light power and distributed energy storage.
GGII data shows that in 2025, large cylindrical battery shipments in small power scenarios reached about 9GWh, a year-on-year increase of over 250%; shipments for residential and portable energy storage doubled, accounting for about 40% of the overall large cylindrical market, and are expected to approach 50% in 2026. The market is gradually shifting from being dual-dominated by power and energy storage to a balanced development across multiple scenarios.
Looking at small power first, three forces are arriving simultaneously.
The first is the massive replacement of the existing lead-acid stock. Data from the China Bicycle Association shows that as of September 2025, the domestic social ownership of electric bicycles is about 380 million units, with lead-acid batteries still accounting for the majority.
With the implementation of four mandatory national standards for electric bicycles and lithium-ion batteries starting in November 2024, coupled with the promotion of trade-in initiatives, industry estimates suggest that hundreds of millions of existing non-compliant vehicles in China will face replacement from 2025 to 2028. The raised safety threshold directly accelerates the substitution of lead-acid by lithium batteries.
The second is the operational requirements of the battery swapping model. The two-wheeler battery swapping network requires batteries to withstand high-frequency charging and discharging, high turnover, and complex temperatures. The real range is advancing from 40 to 50 kilometers to 70 to 80 kilometers, and the requirements for single-vehicle capacity and cycle life are rising synchronously. LFP large cylindrical batteries with long life and high consistency are more suitable for high-frequency operations.
The third is export pull. The electrification of light vehicles in Southeast Asia, India, and Europe is accelerating. GGII expects that in 2026, the demand for large cylindrical batteries for lithium-ion light vehicles driven by overseas policies and subsidies is expected to exceed 15GWh.
Turning to small energy storage, recovery and supply shortages are jointly opening a window.
After two years of channel inventory digestion, residential energy storage returned to growth in 2025: GGII data shows that global residential energy storage system shipments reached about 35GWh in 2025, a year-on-year increase of nearly 50%, surpassing the previous cycle's peak.
European residential energy storage will stabilize in 2026 and return to the growth channel from 2027. High electricity prices, heatwaves, and grid vulnerability are driving the industry to shift from subsidy-driven to economics-driven, with consumer-level new categories such as balcony solar-plus-storage systems rapidly gaining volume.
Portable energy storage is also highly prosperous, with Chinese enterprises contributing over 90% of global shipments. More crucially, there is a supply-side gap—in 2026, the residential energy storage market experienced a structural shortage, or "cell shortage," of 100Ah prismatic cells.
Meanwhile, 25 to 50Ah large cylindrical batteries can be directly connected in series for voltage boosting, eliminating the inverter stage, reducing system costs and current stress. They offer more flexible grouping in small-capacity scenarios and have cost advantages over prismatic batteries, naturally becoming a supplementary solution. As residential energy storage power increases from 5kW to 10kW and capacity upgrades from 3 to 5 kWh to 10 to 15 kWh, the demand is perfectly pulled into the 15 to 50Ah optimal capacity range for large cylindrical batteries.
While demand is exploding, the technical routes on the supply side are converging simultaneously, enabling large cylindrical batteries to "seize" this round of growth: the proportion of LFP has exceeded 90%, and all-tab LFP large cylindrical batteries account for over 60%. Specifications continue to scale up along the 32, 40, 46, and 60 series, with the 60 series becoming the fastest-growing category with a year-on-year growth rate of about 220%.
LFP ensures safety and cycle life, all-tab design reduces internal resistance and heat generation, standardized cylindrical shells provide pressure resistance and leave cooling channels between cells, and high-speed automated production ensures consistency. The superposition of these four factors makes up for the shortcomings after scaling up cylindrical batteries.
Facing the window of opportunity, Cham's layout is earlier and more resolute: after 2021, Meng Zhicheng, the new chairman of Cham New Energy, broke through the company's conservative practices of the past 20 years.
He proposed that R&D must be driven by scenarios, not confined to a single packaging method, and took the lead in launching cell product planning above the 46 series. He quantified everything that could be quantified in data, proposed the corporate value that "quality is a belief," boldly laid out new bases in the face of rapid industry iteration, promoted the implementation of high-quality large cylindrical batteries, LFP, and sodium-ion battery systems, and expanded capacity tenfold.
Meng Zhicheng also led the team to cooperate with Siemens to build a digital native factory from 0 to 1. From the virtual twin factory to the physical factory implementation, the production line was integrated at once, thus completing the brilliant transformation of all-tab large cylindrical cells from 0 to 1.
Cham's 32 series has always been firmly in the first tier of the large cylindrical sub-category. Against the backdrop of the current track's high-speed expansion and a far-from-settled landscape, the launch of the 46 and 60 series large cylindrical new products is perfectly timed.
30Ah and 50Ah Dual-Track Market Capture: Solving Two Types of Pain Points
With the manufacturing foundation fully in place, Cham's ability to seize this round of growth relies on a product matrix covering 15 to 50Ah.
In this product matrix, the 32 series (15 to 20Ah) is already the core base of full production and delivery, focusing on standardization and flexibility; the 46140 and 60140 launched this time push the capacity boundaries to 30Ah and 50Ah, targeting two completely different pain points respectively.
The 46140 solves the "performance and lightweight" problem, mainly targeting high-end electric motorcycles and smart energy storage. The all-tab structure transforms the entire end face of the current collector into conductive tabs, shortening the current path and reducing internal resistance, enabling fast charging capability of 80% in 10 minutes.
The 46140 launched this time is also divided into two different material systems: liquid and solid-liquid. Among them, the solid-liquid system can achieve over 6,000 cycles at room temperature, meeting the ultra-long usage demand of eight years.
Both can support wide-temperature operation from -30℃ to 60℃, with a 50% capacity increase compared to traditional cylindrical cells of the same specifications. They adopt aluminum shells for weight reduction, and with the introduction of solid-state elements, they balance long cycle life, intrinsic safety, and environmental adaptability.
The 60140 solves the "long range and ultimate cost" problem, mainly targeting exported three-wheelers, four-wheelers, and 5 to 15 kWh smart energy storage. The 60140 also has two different versions, with the 50Ah being the lithium-ion version and the 28Ah being the sodium-ion version.
Cham sets its maximum discharge rate at 2C, focusing its advantages on pack efficiency: the lithium-ion version has a single-cell capacity of 50Ah, a 66% leap over the previous generation. The number of cells and connectors is reduced, coupled with full-link cost reduction from cell to pack to terminal, making it comparable to the 100Ah prismatic solution.
The sodium-ion version, on the other hand, highlights its wide-temperature advantage. It has currently completed internal temperature testing from -40℃ to 60℃. The test results show that the cell exhibits excellent adaptability to complex climate conditions and harsh application scenarios.
A single standardized cell can be universally applied to battery swapping, electric motorcycles, residential energy storage, portable power, and smart equipment, achieving "power-storage integration and multi-use of a single cell." The two new products are not replacements for the 32 series but an upward extension of the matrix. Thus, Cham has formed four major series—32/40/46/60—covering a complete product range from 15 to 50Ah.
Notably, during the production line planning stage, Cham adopted a co-line design scheme for sodium-ion/lithium-ion cells, supporting flexible co-line production of products from both electrochemical systems, which can quickly respond to customers' cross-category order demands.
Behind the Capacity Leap: The Winning Hand of Large Cylindrical Batteries Lies in Mass Production Consistency
Scaling a single cell from 30Ah to 50Ah and achieving mass production involves difficulties that run through materials, structure, and manufacturing.
In terms of materials, scaling up the cell inevitably shifts to aluminum shells with better heat dissipation and conductivity. However, the load-bearing capacity of aluminum shells is limited, requiring a match with LFP, which has less expansion. The energy concentration of ternary materials and the expansion of the negative electrode are not compatible with aluminum shells. Thus, "aluminum shell + LFP" has become the confirmed direction.
Cham has positioned LFP across the entire 32/46/60 series, keeping ternary materials only as a reserve for high-end electric motorcycles and robot scenarios. The introduction of solid-state elements such as solid electrolytes has further improved low-temperature, rate, and cycle performance.
Structurally, the all-tab design solves the "heat generation" issue, while the single-vent structure solves the "pressure relief" issue. Dual-vent offers fast pressure relief but with high costs and complex integration; single-vent has strong encapsulation but inconvenient pressure relief.
Cham's breakthrough lies in effective heat dissipation, creating the industry's first single-vent cylindrical product with single-sided pressure relief that 100% passes the new national standard nail penetration test. Through the optimization of the upper safety components and liquid injection process, directional rapid pressure relief is achieved under the single-vent structure. The 60140 is also equipped with single-valve directional pressure relief and triple safety protection.
The most difficult part is engineering consistency.
After the electrode sheets become longer, the difficulty of defect rejection, heat dissipation and expansion control, and consistency increases exponentially. Cham trades "restraint" for stability, controlling the production line synchronization speed to below 80 meters/minute. The comprehensive yield rate of the new production line reaches over 96%, placing it in the first tier of the industry (the industry average is generally 88% to 95%).
At the same time, the company uses AI intelligent control to regulate areal density fluctuations, strengthens heat dissipation through multi-sided welding across the entire series, and suppresses expansion through additive and compaction stress control. Relying on full-link digitalization, it achieves full-process traceability for each single cell, meeting the requirements of the European Battery Regulation. UL and CE certifications, along with the 32140 being among the first to pass the new national standard CCC mandatory inspection, constitute its confidence in safety and overseas expansion.
Orders Booked Until 2027: Validated by the Market, Holding the Main Battlefield of 10 kWh
Whether the products and technologies are viable is ultimately tested by orders.
Cham's confidence comes from the accumulation of doing only one thing for over 20 years. Founded in 2003 and incubated with the participation of the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the company is the first high-tech enterprise in China to achieve large-scale mass production of cylindrical lithium batteries, and also the earliest 18650 cylindrical battery manufacturer in the country.
The company has repeatedly driven the capacity of 18650 cells to climb step by step from 2.0Ah to 3.5Ah with the identity of "China's first mass production," achieving breakthroughs in cylindrical cell capacity 7 times in total. Its products were once selected as the backup power supply for Shenzhou VII, and the cumulative shipment of cylindrical batteries has exceeded 2.2 billion units.
Currently, Cham owns over 690 core patents, a national-level CNAS-accredited laboratory, and five major digital intelligent factories covering Mianyang, Yantai, Suzhou, Dongguan, and the planned Indonesia site. Its customers extend from BMZ, Lenovo, LG, Anker, EcoFlow, IKEA, and Valeo to YUQILG and iSoftStone Embodied Robot, and it has established a strategic cooperation with Sany Renewable Energy.
The market has already given a positive response. Since 2026, Cham's cylindrical battery shipments and sales revenue have shown significant year-on-year growth, with overseas sales revenue increasing substantially; the 32140 production line at the Mianyang base is running at full production and full sales, with a single-line daily capacity reaching 150,000 units. Orders are booked until 2027, and products are sold far and wide to Europe, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia.
According to Cham's head of marketing, shipments in the first half of 2026 doubled year-on-year, and the large cylindrical series now accounts for nearly 100% of its product matrix, which clearly shows the degree of focus.
Capacity is being rolled out simultaneously. The company's current overall cylindrical capacity is about 10GWh. The 46 series is landed in Yantai, and the 60 series is laid out in Mianyang, with new production lines expected to be released starting in the first half of next year; Mianyang adds two new production lines, reaching a total capacity of 20GWh after full production. Yantai has two under construction, reaching a capacity of about 10GWh after full production. Overseas, it has already been laid out in Indonesia.
The pace of new production line construction depends on customer certification, market demand, and project implementation conditions. Behind the planning is Cham New Energy's long-term technical accumulation in all-tab cylindrical cell manufacturing, automated production lines, and a mature quality control system.
Cham has also held its strategic boundaries. In its view, 120Ah is the watershed between cylindrical and prismatic batteries. Commercial, industrial, and large-scale energy storage are dominated by prismatic batteries. The main battlefield for cylindrical batteries is below 10 kWh, especially within 5 kWh. In this range, grouping is more flexible, and the balance of cost and performance for small capacity is better. "Leveraging our strengths to exploit their weaknesses," it does not blindly pursue ultra-large single cells.
Looking to the future, while iterating all-tab large cylindrical batteries, the company is simultaneously laying out sodium-ion and solid-liquid (semi-solid) batteries, and reserving ternary system products such as 4695 for humanoid robots, forming a dual-track pattern of "LFP focusing on power and energy storage, and ternary positioning for embodied intelligence."
The large cylindrical battery track is expanding at high speed, but the landscape is far from settled. When 50Ah-class cells begin mass production, the real competition comparing safety, cost, and manufacturing consistency is just beginning—and this is precisely the window of opportunity for leading enterprises.