LG Chem and Proterra, a California-based heavy-duty electric transportation manufacturer, announced on Wednesday the co-development of new battery cells.

Proterra reported that its zero-emission bus model Catalyst E2 has succeeded traveling 1,772 kilometers at low speed on a single charge of batteries provided by LG Chem.

The result is 83 percent further than the record of 970 km that Proterra achieved in a long-range test a year ago, it said. 

With passengers on board, the 12-meter electric bus is capable of traveling around 500 km, according to LG Chem.

Since last year, the two companies have developed new battery cells for Catalyst E2, Proterra‘s longest-range electric transit bus on the market.

Catalyst E2 battery packs with the new cell provided by LG Chem will be produced at Proterra’s battery facility in Burlingame, California, the company said. The production facility can produce over 500 MWh of E2 battery packs on an annual basis, it said.

“It is our commitment to be at the leading edge of designing and manufacturing advanced batteries to meet the increasing global demand coming from the electric transportation sector,” said Kim Young-sun, LG Chem’s vice president. 

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)