We certainly don’t need to introduce the Chinese name CATL to anyone even remotely interested in electric vehicles. The giant battery manufacturer is constantly setting production records, as well as opening up to new technologies. If we strictly take the past year as a basis, we can talk about innovations such as the Quilin high-endurance battery, the ShenXing ultra-high-speed cell, getting into the development of electric aircraft, or examining the possibility of using the battery. replacing.
So, according to CATL’s latest press materials, there’s no disagreement about size, nor even about speed. After all, CATL’s newest factory (which is being built in the southwestern part of China – Guizhou Province) has such a degree of automation that The cell is ready in approximately 1 second and the car battery pack is ready in approximately 3 minutes.
The factory will reach its full capacity of 60 gigawatt hours in two phases, and in the first phase the required production capacity to produce 30 gigawatt hours annually will be built. The cost of this first phase is already known: $957 million. 95 percent automation and the use of the latest technologies also contribute to achieving the amazing speed mentioned above. The second phase will also start soon, and upon completion, the entire plant will eventually cover an area of 235 hectares, bringing the annual capacity to 60 GWh.
Speaking of CATL, I must also mention their activities in Hungary, where a very important CATL plant is being built in our country (Debrec), where, according to September news, among other things, ShenXing cells will be manufactured. The battery has a graphite anode, a new electrolyte composition, and a thin, safe separator. CATL claims that the Shenxing generates less heat and delivers better performance thanks to a new battery management system (BMS). The battery is designed to operate at temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius and reaches 80 percent charge within 30 minutes in such weather conditions. It is also worth noting that CATL plans to introduce carbon neutral production in terms of local production.
On October 26, the Hungarian Battery Association organized the third conference. For the Hungarian Battery Day event. Jason Chen, CATL’s General Manager in charge of European operations, also spoke here and stressed that CATL’s battery plant in Debrecen will be equipped with the latest production technologies available, in line with CO2 neutralization efforts.
