One out of every three new NEVs added worldwide is loaded with the CATL's batteries.
(CATL founder and chairman Robin Zeng speaks at the 2022 World New Energy Vehicle Congress. Image credit: CATL)
To date, CATL's batteries have been sold in 56 countries and regions around the world and have been used in more than 5 million vehicles, according to the power battery giant's helmsman.
CATL founder and chairman Robin Zeng revealed the figures during a speech at the 2022 World New Energy Vehicle Congress on August 27, saying that one in three new NEVs worldwide is equipped with the company's batteries.
The company already has 10 production sites in China and a factory in Germany that has received a production license. The module production line is now in production and the cell production line will be operational by the end of the year, he said.
CATL will also build its second plant in Europe in Hungary, which will have a total capacity of 100 GWh and will start construction this year, he mentioned, repeating an announcement made by the company earlier this month.
CATL's global market share reached a record high of 34.8 percent in the first half of this year, he said.
Zeng did not mention the source of the data, but it appears to come from South Korean market research firm SNE Research, which said earlier this month that CATL had 34.8 percent of the global power battery market in the first half, up 6.2 percentage points from 28.6 percent in the same period last year.
South Korea's LG Energy Solution came in second with a 14.4 percent share, down from 23.8 percent a year earlier, according to SNE Research.
China's BYD came in third with an 11.8 percent share, up 5 percentage points from 6.8 percent a year ago, according to the data.
In his presentation, Zeng also said CATL launched the Qilin Battery this year for the premium EV market, with a system energy density of 255 Wh/kg and a range that easily exceeds 1,000 kilometers.
The Qilin Battery features the latest NP 2.0 high safety protection technology, a new generation of safety protection developed by CATL, which for the first time uses active decoupling of high voltage and runaway fumes, he said.
One could say that an electric car that does not carry Qilin Battery is not a high-end car, he claimed.
For the affordable EV market, CATL has introduced the M3P battery through the innovation of material system, Zeng said in his speech.
CATL's M3P battery is based on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, but is not an LFP battery. It maintains the high safety and long-life characteristics of LFP batteries, but with a 20 percent increase in cell energy density, making it very competitive, he said.
Earlier this month, Sina Tech cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Tesla would soon launch a new China-made Model 3, with the biggest highlight being that the entire lineup would use M3P batteries supplied by CATL, with a range improvement of at least 10 percent.
But Tesla later said it has no plans to use any new models of batteries, including the 4680 cells, in the China-made Tesla models.