CATL, the Chinese battery giant, announced on Thursday that it will begin mass production of its latest generation product next year. It will start with greater efficiency that will allow electric cars to travel longer distances on each charge.
The world’s largest battery manufacturer is scrambling to maintain its lead over rivals such as BYD. Thus, will soon begin supplying batteries to Tesla. This new battery is called Qilin, after a creature from Chinese legend books. It’s not only more energy dense, but it also charges faster and is said to be safer and last longer. CATL’s new Qilin battery will have a volume utilization rate of 72 percent. It’s the highest in the world, compared to 50 percent for its first generation. It was launched in 2019 and also have a higher energy density of 255 Wh/kg.
However, the company did not say whether any electric vehicle manufacturers had placed orders for the new battery.
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CATL, supplies batteries to automakers such as Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, and Nio. It saw a 24 percent drop in first-quarter net profit due to rising metal costs. The company raised prices and passing on costs to the automakers. Also, the company predicted a higher profit margin in the second quarter in May.
According to Seoul-based SNE Research, CATL sold the equivalent of 41.5 GWh of batteries in the first four months, more than doubling the sales of second-placed LG Energy Solution.
CATL is in the final phases of evaluating sites in the United States to build electric vehicle batteries as it expands overseas, according to Reuters. The company, based in the southern Chinese province of Fujian, has stated that it will begin supplying cylindrical cells to BMW in 2025 for a new series of electric vehicles. Tesla is also increasing production of its “4680” batteries, which have five times the energy capacity of the existing 2170 cells.
