Tesla battery supplier Catl says new design has
one million-mile lifespan
8 June 2020
Catl
already has a contract to supply batteries to Tesla
A Chinese
car battery-maker says it is ready to manufacture a product capable of powering
a vehicle for 1.2 million miles (two million kilometres) across the course of a
16-year lifespan.
By
contrast, most automakers only offer warranties ranging from 60,000 to 150,000
miles over a three to eight-year period on their cars' batteries.
Contemporary
Amperex Technology has not revealed who it intends to supply.
But it was
previously reported that the battery was co-developed with Tesla.
The latest
news was revealed in an interview Catl's chairman gave to the Bloomberg news
agency.
"If
someone places an order, we are ready to produce," it quoted Zeng Yuqun as
saying.
He added
that it was set, however, to cost a 10% premium over the batteries it already
supplies.
The company
signed a two-year deal to supply batteries for Tesla's Model 3 cars in
February. Its other clients include BMW, Daimler, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and
Volvo.
Catl has
grown into being the world's top-selling car battery-maker since being
established in 2011
Demand for
electric vehicles is growing.
The
European market for EVs and plug-in hybrids grew by 72% in the first three
months of the year compared to the same period in 2019, representing 7% of all
delivered new cars, according to research firm Canalys.
By
contrast, the pandemic weighed on the wider market, which as a whole saw
deliveries down by 26% for the quarter.
The firm
said that Catl's claim was "significant but difficult to verify".
"It is
likely to be used as a differentiator by some car-makers when there is a
significant difference from one vehicle to another - dramatically affecting
resale value," said Canalys's chief automotive analyst Chris Jones.
He added
that this and other factors - including the wider availability of charging
points and longer driving ranges - should help tempt more motorists to make the
switch to an electric car.
Scrappage
scheme
In
February, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC that the UK might
ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars as soon as 2032, to help meet the UK's
zero-carbon emission targets.
The Sunday
Telegraph reported yesterday that the government is considering offering
drivers up to £6,000 to swap their existing cars for electric models next month
as part of efforts to boost the UK's electric car manufacturing industry.
The Nissan
Leaf and Mini Electric are made locally, and Property Week has reported that
Tesla is also considering opening its own "gigafactory" car battery
plant in England.
However,
Catl's own European efforts are currently focused on Germany, where it is
building a factory in the eastern town of Erfurt, which is scheduled to start
producing lithium-ion car batteries in 2021.
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