[Super Duty]

Reuters is reporting that Ford EVs could be using CATL ( Contemporary Amperex Technology Co) batteries in the future. CATL is in talks of opening battery plants in the states that would serve Ford and BMW.

EXCLUSIVE CATL planning EV battery production in United States, vetting sites

Such an investment would mark the Chinese company's first production in the world's second-largest car market.

www.reuters.com

May 6 (Reuters) - CATL (300750.SZ), the world's largest battery maker, is in the final stages of vetting sites in the United States to build electric vehicle batteries, an investment that would mark the Chinese company's first production in the world's second-largest car market, two people with knowledge of the plans told Reuters.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL) is in talks to open plants that would serve BMW AG (BMWG.DE) and Ford Motor Co (F.N), and potential sites include South Carolina and Kentucky, where those automakers have assembly plants, according to the two people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are ongoing and private.

In the case of the potential South Carolina plant, the goal would be for battery production to begin in 2026, one of the sources said. BMW is already a customer of CATL.

CATL, whose other customers include Tesla (TSLA.O) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), declined to comment.

Chairman Zeng Yuqun said on Thursday the company was exploring possibilities to localize production for overseas automakers in their countries. read more

He said CATL had begun mass production of batteries for overseas markets in 2021 and was looking to lock in its standing as the major battery supplier to automakers overseas "in the next round of supplier sourcing," which he said would begin from 2026.

The Ningde, Fujian-based company is ramping up production and its sourcing of minerals to meet growing demand for EVs. Consulting firm Wood Mackenzie has said CATL is on track to more than triple its cell manufacturing capacity by 2025.

BMW said in a statement that it was "intensively examining the possibility of establishing a battery factory" in North America and buying battery materials in the region. "We are in talks with several partners about this," the company said.

Ford, which declined to comment, announced plans last September to build two battery plants, jointly owned with SK, in Glendale, Kentucky. Ford also has two vehicle assembly plants in Louisville, Kentucky. read more

The consideration of the battery investment by CATL comes as the U.S. government rolls out measures to encourage EV investments and other Asian battery makers gear up to build U.S. plants.

This week, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said it will allocate more than $3 billion in infrastructure funding to finance EV manufacturing. Biden wants half of vehicles sold in the United States to be electric by 2030. read more

Other Asian companies that have announced plans to build U.S. battery plants include Korea's LG Energy Solution (051910.KS), SK Innovation (096770.KS) and Samsung SDI (006400.KS). Japan's Panasonic Corp(6752.T) also is reportedly looking to purchase land for a plant to serve Tesla. read more

BMW has an assembly plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. CATL will open its first battery plant outside China later this year in Arnstadt, Germany, to serve BMW and other automakers. CATL will invest 1.8 billion euros ($1.89 billion) in that factory, which will have an initial annual capacity of 8 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries, the company has said.

BMW's Spartanburg plant, which builds the top-selling X3 and X5 sport utility vehicles as well as other models, is one of the German automaker's largest and serves as a big export hub.

BMW Chief Executive Oliver Zipse on Thursday affirmed the German automaker's plans to reach sales of 2 million fully-electric vehicles by 2025 and have EVs account for at least half of global deliveries by 2030. He said the most important factor for EV production is having local suppliers.

CATL in 2020 purchased a facility in Glasgow, Kentucky, and documents from a June 2020 meeting with Kentucky economic development officials showed the battery maker was considering establishing a facility there.

Economic development officials in South Carolina and Kentucky declined to comment.

It was not immediately clear what incentives government agencies in those states would offer for the investment or whether the planned plants would have some kind of joint-venture participation by the automakers.

CATL last month posted its first quarterly profit decline in two years due to soaring raw material costs and disruptions from COVID-19 controls in China. It said on Thursday it expected profit margins to improve as it raised prices in the second quarter and raw material cost pressures eased. read more

 

[GDN]

While Lithium is likely a superior product, many will walk this was to CATL due to costs and supply constraints. It will help get different/cheaper costs into EV's and they don't have some of the constraints of a Lithium battery - like charging to 100%. Tesla is using them on the SR cars.

 

[Voltz]

While Lithium is likely a superior product, many will walk this was to CATL due to costs and supply constraints. It will help get different/cheaper costs into EV's and they don't have some of the constraints of a Lithium battery - like charging to 100%. Tesla is using them on the SR cars.

I'm not seeing what chemistry this plant may use in the article. Does CATL only make LFP batteries currently? Not conventional Lithium ion? I know they are probably on the verge of commercial sodium ion battery production, also. It's good to see huge capacity ramping going on in the US.

 

[Super Duty]

For anyone that isn't familiar with CATL. They New York Times did a big feature article on them back in December. They hold 1/3 of the EV battery market.

@Voltz CATL makes lithium-cobalt batteries but they're also producing batteries without cobalt.

Why a Chinese Company Dominates Electric Car Batteries

Beijing gave CATL lavish subsidies, a captive market of buyers and soft regulatory treatment, helping it to control a crucial technology of the future.

www.nytimes.com

CATL’s batteries require ready supplies of lithium and cobalt. Chinese firms have rushed to secure cobalt in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where huge deposits were once mined by an American company. This year, CATL acquired a quarter of the Kisanfu cobalt reserve, one of the world’s richest, in Congo for $137.5 million.

--

BYD is now exploring production of its own lithium-cobalt batteries. But CATL is also manufacturing more batteries now without cobalt, a metal sometimes called the “blood diamond of batteries” because of its high price and the perilous working conditions Congo’s miners face.

 

[GDN]

I'm not seeing what chemistry this plant may use in the article. Does CATL only make LFP batteries currently? Not conventional Lithium ion? I know they are probably on the verge of commercial sodium ion battery production, also. It's good to see huge capacity ramping going on in the US.

I did make that assumption as I know Tesla has turned to them for the other chemistry. That may not be the case for Ford.

 

[RDale]

The CATL batteries have been confirmed on future EVs by Ford.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2022/07/21/ford-battery-capacity-raw-materials-scale-evs.html

Ford is adding lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell chemistry to its portfolio, alongside its existing nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) chemistry. This creates even more capacity for high-demand products and provides customers many years of operation with minimal range loss. It also reduces the reliance on scarce critical minerals such as nickel and, at current costs, brings a 10 to 15% bill of material savings for Ford versus NCM batteries.

The company confirmed it has secured 100% of the annual battery cell capacity needed – 60 gigawatt hours (GWh) – to support this 600,000 EV run rate by working with leading battery companies around the globe.

Ford announced that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) will provide full LFP battery packs for Mustang Mach-E models for North America starting next year as well as F-150 Lightnings in early 2024. Ford’s EV architecture flexibility allows efficient incorporation of CATL’s prismatic LFP cell-to-pack technology, delivering incremental capacity quickly to scale and meet customer demand.

Ford also is leveraging its long-standing connection with LG Energy Solution (LGES) and its strategic relationship with SK On to meet its battery capacity target for late 2023.

Long-time supplier LGES has scaled quickly and doubled its capacity at its Wroclaw, Poland, facility to support incremental NCM cell production for Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit models.

Plus, SK On has installed capacity to support the scaling of Ford’s high-volume F-150 Lightning and E-Transits through late 2023 – scaling NCM cell production beyond earlier-planned levels from its Atlanta facility and providing new battery cell capacity from its Hungary operation.

Driving to more than 2 million EVs by late 2026

Ford is building on agreements tied to its 600,000 run rate milestone and is taking them even further. The company now has sourced approximately 70% of the battery cell capacity it needs to support an annual global run rate of more than 2 million EVs by late 2026.

Ford and CATL – the world’s largest battery producer – have signed a separate non-binding MOU to explore a cooperation for supplying batteries in Ford’s markets across China, Europe and North America.

Ford also announced it plans to localize and use 40 GWh of LFP capacity in North America starting in 2026.