Japan's Honda Motor has announced it will buy a 1% stake in Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and the two will jointly develop EV batteries for Honda's future EVs.
(AutoNews)
(AutoNews)
Vinay's key takeaways:
- CATL, headquartered in Ningde, China, is a global leader in the development and manufacturing of Lithium-ion powered batteries. The first Honda model equipped with a CATL battery is scheduled to be launched in the Chinese market in 2022.
- Through this strategic cooperation, CATL and Honda are looking to have a global partnership to deliver more competitive EV products and solutions.
- Honda has recently signed up new partnerships to make electric cars, including a Joint Venture with China's GAC under which it began selling its first fully-electric EV in China, the Everus VE-1 SUV crossover, last year.
- Most EV batteries come from just a few global suppliers, including CATL, Panasonic, LG Chem and BYD. These companies are signing lucrative supply deals with automakers as demand for batteries increases. Panasonic has been Tesla's sole battery partner since the Model S was introduced in 2012.
- Prompted by the growing popularity of Tesla models, automakers around the world are scrambling to push ahead with the introduction of their own fully-electric models through such strategic alliances.