Photo: CATL
Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) has begun developing electric vehicle (EV) batteries at its first plant beyond China, and right on schedule.
CATL started producing lithium-ion EV batteries at its new plant in Germany’s Erfurt, Thuringia, according to a press release shared on Wednesday.
The factory’s first batch of battery cells rolled off the production line at the Contemporary Amperex Technology Thiringia GmbH (CATT) plant’s G2 building this week, set to supply European customers with the lithium-ion hardware.
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The Erfurt plant will oversee a total investment of up to €1.8 billion ($1.91 billion USD), for an eventual production capacity of 14 GWh. The Germany battery factory is expected to employ up to 2,000 people.
“The production kickoff proves that we kept our promise to our customers as a reliable partner of the industry and we stay committed to Europe’s e-mobility transition even under very challenging conditions like the pandemic,” said Matthias Zentgraf, president of CATL Europe. “We are working hard to ramp up production to full capacity, which is our top priority for the coming year.”
CATL gained a production permit from the state of Thuringia to produce battery cells in April, letting the manufacturer develop up to 8 GWh of battery cells per year.