Chinese battery manufacturer CATL continues its aggressive expansion with plans for two new manufacturing bases. One will be located in Gui’an New Zone, an industrial development cluster within Guizhou Province. The other one will be located in Xiamen, Fujian Province. The Gui’an base will be used to produce batteries for mobility and energy storage applications, whereas the Xiamen base will be used to produce lithium-ion battery cells. CATL has only revealed the first-phase plans of the respective projects. For the Gui’an base, the initial investment will be capped at RMB 7 billion. As for the Xiamen base, the initial investment will be capped at RMB 8 billion. The news of CATL’s plans was first reported by website China Securities Journal.
According to the reporting by Chinese news media, CATL believes that investing in the two new bases is consistent with the company’s current strategy and will further enhance the company’s distribution of production capacity across China. Furthermore, the two bases will support CATL in meeting future demand and expanding into other market segments. Hence, they are important for the development and operational stability of the company over the long run.
As a global leader in new energy technologies, CATL has been focusing on the development, production, and sales of powertrain battery systems for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. The company is committed to offering first-class solutions for various new energy applications. Over the years, CATL has gained crucial advantages in core technologies and R&D. With its expertise covering the key sections of the supply chain (e.g., materials, system integration, and recycling), the company has established its own ecosystem for product manufacturing and related services. Also, CATL is actively promoting lithium-ion batteries as a high-quality energy storage technology through its innovative business model.
Using the data from patent information website PatSnap, Chinese Securities Journal reported that CATL’s main R&D unit now possesses 6,405 patent applications. The growth of the company’s patents over the past three years has come to a rate of 245.46%. Furthermore, 99.6% of the company’s patents are not related to appearance design but of high quality kinds originated from substantial R&D. Researchers at PatSnap also said that CATL has filed PCT applications for 814 intellectual property items in 13 countries and regions. All in all, the company is very attentive to the protection of its intellectual property and has a global patent strategy.
While expanding production capacity in the home country, CATL is also setting up facilities abroad. Europe, in particular, has become a major regional market for powertrain battery manufacturers in the recent years. This September, CATL and German chemical giant BASF signed a framework agreement to collaborate on the production of cathode active materials and battery recycling. CATL has entered the battery supply chains of several European automotive brands that are offering electric cars, with the major ones being BMW and Mercedes-Benz.