Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker, has delivered a cluster of upbeat announcements within the past one week. These included new investment plans in Europe, test results showing ultra-long-life lithium batteries and a sodium-ion vehicle partnership with Changan Auto.
The developments highlight how CATL is pressing ahead with technological upgrades and overseas expansion at a time when US authorities are tightening restrictions on Chinese battery firms and scrutinizing their links to American automakers.
Notably, on January 27 John Moolenaar, chair of the US House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, wrote to Ford Motor Company questioning its battery strategy.
“Public statements from Ford indicate that the company plans to repurpose its existing US battery manufacturing facilities to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells and grid‑scale energy storage systems using technical know‑how licensed from CATL, a Department of Defense‑designated Chinese military company,” said Moolenaar.
“Ford’s apparent changes follow enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which placed new restrictions on eligibility for clean energy tax credits, including limits related to licensing arrangements with prohibited foreign entities,” he said.
He stressed that Ford’s revised business plan raises important questions about whether the original licensing terms have been updated, expanded, or otherwise altered to accommodate the company’s new focus on energy storage systems and data center markets.
The concerns stem from a February 2023 deal in which CATL agreed to supply LFP battery technology for a Ford EV battery plant in Michigan, a project that Ford said would involve a US$3.5 billion investment and has since drawn sustained political scrutiny in Washington.
In January last year, the US Department of Defense added CATL and other Chinese firms to its annually updated “Chinese military companies” list, citing alleged ties to China’s armed forces. In March, the US House passed the Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act, which would bar the Department of Homeland Security from procuring batteries from six Chinese-linked companies, including CATL, from October 1, 2027.
As of late 2024, the European Union imposed definitive anti-subsidy duties of between 7.8% and 35.3% on Chinese EVs, but stopped short of extending additional tariffs to EV batteries or key components. In recent years, CATL has been accelerating its localization strategy in Europe, operating a major plant in Germany, building a large-scale factory in Hungary, and advancing a joint-venture battery project in Spain with Stellantis.
Expansion despite headwinds
Although its battery partnership with Ford remains stalled by political and regulatory scrutiny in the US, CATL has continued to roll out technological breakthroughs and overseas investment plans over the past week.
On January 30, London-based asset manager Schroders said its business unit Greencoat would work with CATL to explore projects in Europe, one of several commercial tie-ups announced during UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing.
Schroders said Greencoat had signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CATL and Hong Kong-based private equity firm Lochpine Capital to develop an investment platform for battery energy storage systems across Europe.
On February 2, CATL released performance details of its 5C lithium‑ion battery, claiming it can combine ultra‑fast charging with unusually long service life. As of last June, the company has supplied one million units of this battery for Li Auto’s Mega models.
In industry terms, 5C means a battery can be fully charged in about 12 minutes, compared with roughly one hour for a conventional 1C battery. Most batteries in the EVs made by Tesla, which sources its batteries from CATL, Panasonic and LG Energy Solution, are now 2C to 3C that can be fully charged in 20-30 minutes.
The company said the battery can endure about 3,000 full charge–discharge cycles at room temperature while retaining at least 80% of its original capacity, equivalent to a service life of about 1.8 million miles, roughly six times the industry average and potentially longer than a vehicle’s design lifespan. Tesla’s current batteries are typically designed to last between 300,000 and 500,000 miles.
It added that the gains stem from denser cathode coatings, self‑healing electrolyte additives and temperature‑responsive separators, alongside an upgraded battery‑management system that dynamically targets cooling to slow aging under high‑stress conditions.
On February 5, Changan Automobile and CATL unveiled a global sodium‑ion battery strategy and what they said was the world’s first launch of EVs powered by sodium‑ion batteries, with a mass‑produced sodium‑ion passenger car making its debut.
The CATL–Changan partnership uses sodium-ion batteries, which are bulkier than lithium ones but perform better in cold climates
CATL said the sodium‑ion battery, combined with its third‑generation cell‑to‑pack (CTP) technology and battery‑management system, can deliver more than 400 kilometers of pure‑electric range with an energy density of 175 watt‑hours per kilogram, while maintaining more than 90% capacity at −40°C.
Some experts have pointed out that although sodium-ion batteries are typically bulkier than lithium-based alternatives due to lower energy density, their superior cold-weather performance could make them particularly attractive in regions with harsh winters, including northern China, Northern Europe and parts of Canada.
Canada last month said it would allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles to enter the market in 2026 under most-favored-nation terms, subject to a tariff of 6.1%.
“Both the US and Europe have tightened scrutiny of new-energy supply chains over the past two years, and policy resistance facing CATL’s overseas manufacturing plans is clearly rising,” Zhang Dachuan, an automobile columnist, writes in a recent article. “Boosting localization rates and strengthening supply-chain resilience have become urgent priorities.”
“CATL is therefore accelerating its overseas expansion, particularly in Europe,” Zhang said. “Its factory in Germany is already in operation, supplying battery cells and modules to European automakers including BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The first phase of CATL’s plant in Hungary has been completed and is poised to enter large-scale production, while projects in Spain and Indonesia are also moving forward.”
“At home, CATL must ensure high-quality delivery of its existing products and continue to invest heavily in new technologies and new products,” he says. “That approach is critical to defending its 43.42% market share achieved last year, as competition intensifies from rivals such as BYD, CALB Group and Gotion High-Tech.”
Global market shares
According to South Korea-based SNE Research, Chinese battery makers dominated global EV battery installations in 2025, with market share concentrated among a handful of leading suppliers:
- CATL: about 38% of global EV battery installations
- BYD: roughly 16–17%, ranking second globally
- LG Energy Solution: around 9–10%, the leading non-Chinese supplier
- Panasonic: about 6%, supported mainly by its long-term partnership with Tesla
- SK On: roughly 5%, supplying several Western automakers
Inheriting the battery technology from Japan’s Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) two decades ago, CATL has its core capabilities built on lithium‑battery technology, shaping its long-standing focus on lithium-based chemistries.
Tesla initially relied on Panasonic’s nickel-based batteries, but has since adopted a dual-track approach to reduce costs and segment its models. It now uses high-nickel 4680 cells in performance and long-range vehicles, while deploying CATL’s LFP batteries in standard-range models.
Read: Chinese EVs, batteries gain world market share as Trump backs oil
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And now Americans will claim that CATL & Chinese stole US Battery technology.