- CATL chairman Zeng Yuqun told Bloomberg that his company has a battery pack ready for electric vehicles that will last as much as 1.2 million miles.
- Zeng would not share the names of automakers that might have already signed up for the technology, but recent reports have stated that Tesla is ready to make an announcement about long-lasting battery tech.
- The battery pack does have a 10 percent price premium over current batteries, but the benefits could include using the same pack in multiple cars over a long life span.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) chairman and founder Zeng Yuqun said the company is ready with a battery pack that’ll last 1.2 million miles before needing to be replaced. For comparison, Bloomberg analysts note that typically an EV’s battery pack has a 150,000-mile or eight-year warranty. So this is significantly more.
“If someone places an order, we are ready to produce,” Zeng told Bloomberg. The chairman didn’t share the names of any manufacturers that have already signed on for the battery technology, but CATL supplies batteries and works with Tesla, BMW, Toyota, Audi, and Porsche.
It has been reported that Tesla is set to announce that it will be using the technology in its vehicles at its upcoming Battery Day. CEO Elon Musk announced the event would take place in May; then it was postponed but may still happen in June. Tesla signed a deal with CATL in February to provide batteries for its Model 3 cars built in China.
The battery maker is also working to reduce and even eliminate the use of cobalt in its batteries which would lower the cost of its products. It would also reduce the use of cobalt mining, which has been linked to child labor and deadly working environments.
CATL is currently building a production facility in Germany, and that is good news for BMW. The automaker will get 70 percent of its batteries from CATL as it spins up its EV production roadmap. Throw in Audi, Porsche, and Tesla’s upcoming Berlin Gigafactory, and it’s clear CATL’s move to Europe will reduce overhead in supplying its automaker partners.
As with all new features, there is a cost. These new, long-lasting batteries won’t come cheap; they’re expected to come with a 10 percent price premium over batteries the company is selling to automakers today. But compared with the long-term benefits, it’s actually a bargain. It also sets up the possibility of a battery pack being used in multiple vehicles over the course of its lifetime.
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