China’s largest battery maker CATL built a battery production facility in Shanghai just blocks from Tesla’s Gigafactory Shanghai last year, and a new report shows the factory has already been supplying the nearby automaker.
The CATL plant in Linang, Shanghai has been supplying Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai with batteries since November 2021, according to a report from The Shanghai Observer on Thursday (via CNEVPost).
According to the report, an anonymous source said that CATL’s factory is currently ramping up production, though it has already reached nearly 60 percent of its total capacity.
While it isn’t clear what the total design capacity is for the new CATL facility, Tesla’s Gigafactory Shanghai will require vehicle batteries for years to come.
Tesla Shares Tour of Giga Shanghai and Car Safety Features: Part 1 [VIDEO] https://t.co/2ESy5FgOuX
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) January 7, 2022
The CATL plant was built with specific length, width and height standards so as to need very few changes upon beginning production – a move thought to have saved the company around seven or eight months.
Last year, CATL also signed a deal with Tesla to buy enough batteries to produce 800,000 cars, following news of the company’s constructing a factory near the U.S. automaker’s Shanghai Gigafactory.
CATL also revealed a slightly more affordable electric vehicle (EV) battery with a sodium-ion makeup that offers an integrated lithium-ion build.
