At the World Economic Forum, CATL co-chairman Pan Jian said the Chinese company plans to partner with another European automaker later this year to open a new battery plant as a joint venture. The fourth plant, mentioned just a month after the one signed with Stellantis, for Jeep and its LFP batteries, in Spain.
The plant, in which Stellantis and CATL will invest €4.1 billion, is scheduled to come online by the end of 2026, with a production capacity expected to reach 50 GWh. However, it is unclear what the timing of the fourth site will be or who the automotive battery giant will partner with.
What about Northvolt?
It is also unclear who the company will partner with. Last November, when Swedish startup Northvolt filed for bankruptcy protection, rumors swirled that CATL would seek a bailout. In the meantime, the Chinese have denied the plan, and Northvolt is trying to sell its assets to survive in the face of more than $5.8 billion in debt.
CATL may still decide to help the company in Europe in other ways, with the Chinese company’s co-chairman Pan Jian saying in December that there had been “discussions about helping Northvolt with manufacturing and technology, in a licensing model similar to the one we have with Ford.” The boss added that he remained open "to helping European companies that need it", favoring a licensing partnership rather than financial participation.
While waiting to find a fourth part for its European expansion, CATL is expanding its business, and is now developing much more than batteries. To continue to gain market share and serve the greatest number of manufacturers, the company has started developing chassis, to optimize the integration of batteries. At the end of December, we discovered "Bedrock", CATL's first platform, announced as "ultra-safe".
Source: Electrek
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