BERLIN -- China’s CATL is set to install six battery cell production lines by the end of 2023 at its new German battery plant and hopes to secure approval for 24 gigawatt-hours by June, Matthias Zentgraf, president of CATL Europe, said.
CATL's 1.8-billion-euro German factory, its first in Europe, sent its first sample battery cells to clients in December 2022.
At current capacity of 14 GWh, the company is targeting output of 30 million cells per year - enough to power around 350,000 electric cars with a 40 kilowatt-hour battery, Zentgraf said at an event at the plant to commemorate the start of production.
Construction of the plant in Erfurt, began in 2019, with the first battery modules using cells made in China delivered in the third quarter of 2021.
A second European plant in Europe, to be the continent's largest at 100 GWh, is in planning phase but construction should start in the second half of the year, Zentgraf said, with the aim of beginning production within two to three years.
