Low-carbon technology power play by China’s CATL
Summary
In just seven years since founding Contemporary Amperex Technology, or CATL, the media-shy Zeng has turned the company into one of China’s biggest battery producers, with aggressive plans for further expansion which would see it surpass Tesla’s giant “gigafactory” in the US. “They are the company which has been given the licence to expand and become the number one provider.” The rise of CATL is an important part of China’s strategy to seize global leadership of the battery industry in anticipation of a long-term shift from polluting internal combustion engines to electric vehicles (EVs). CATL, based in the city of Ningde, south-east China, originated as a spin-off from Amperex Technology, a company previously led by Zeng, which makes batteries for digital gadgets, including the Apple iPhone. CATL is among the “clear scale leaders in batteries”, Newman says, alongside its Chinese rival BYD, South Korea’s LG Chem and Samsung SDI, and Panasonic of Japan, which is developing a $5bn production facility with Tesla in the US. “The long-term economics looks increasingly good for EVs and better than [internal combustion engines], thus powering mass adoption.” One key risk is the scarcity of raw materials used in making batteries, especially lithium, cobalt and nickel.
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