According to Bloomberg, citing sources, electric vehicle battery leader CATL plans to spend $5 billion to expand its factory in North America to provide electric vehicle leader Tesla (TSLA-US) and other automakers supply ternary batteries and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
The source pointed out that the new North American plant of CATL will have an annual production capacity of 80 GW and will recruit 10,000 employees. The new plant may now be located in the United States or Canada, but labor and trade factors have delayed the final location.
According to a Bloomberg survey, CATL currently has a total global battery capacity of 145 GW. If the new factories that have been announced and those under construction are considered, the total capacity will reach 579 GW in 2026. At this stage, CATL has a global market share of 30% of electric vehicle batteries. It has the advantages of battery manufacturing and metal refining under economies of scale, and provides cheaper batteries. At the same time, it continues to invest in research and development.
Japan’s Panasonic, a strong competitor in the CATL, is also looking for a new U.S. factory location, which makes new 4680 batteries for Tesla.
As electric vehicles become mainstream, traditional car manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Ford are actively investing in the market, resulting in a surge in demand for ternary batteries, and the prices of lithium, cobalt, and nickel continue to rise amid a shortage of supply.
Tesla also announced last year that its electric vehicles would switch to LFP batteries due to soaring battery costs. The LFP battery supplier of the Shanghai Gigafactory is CATL. LFP batteries have the advantages of cost and battery stability. However, because the energy density is lower than that of ternary batteries, the battery life is poor.
