Photo: CATL
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer CATL plans to partner with another automaker, with a new contract set to begin in just a few years.
CATL said on Friday that it will supply BMW with cylindrical battery cells to support its new EV lineup, starting in 2025, according to a report from Reuters.
This marks a rare move from CATL to supply cylindrical cells instead of square cells for customers, such as Tesla.
The news comes just months after Tesla began manufacturing its 4680 cylindrical lithium-ion batteries, which are expected to hold roughly five times the amount of energy as the current 2170 battery cells.
CATL has already supplied the automaker with batteries for about a decade, though the current announcement lines up with BMW’s plans to launch production of its upcoming Neue Klasse EV platform in 2025.
Here’s CATL’s New Battery Swap Station in China https://t.co/tWJf8NTheh
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) January 18, 2022
Additionally, BMW’s CEO Oliver Zipse said that the company’s EVs will be “as profitable as vehicles with state-of-the-art combustion engines” by 2025.
Reports in March showed that CATL is looking to invest $5 billion into a North American EV battery plant, with battery production set to begin as soon as 2026.
Earlier this month, CATL reported an earnings loss and subsequently saw shares fall.
The BMW i7 electric sedan starts at $119,300 in the U.S., with preorders opening last month for the EV requiring only a $1,500 deposit and $995 destination fee.
