Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) began building its first battery factory outside China in Erfurt, a city in the German state of Thuringia. “Germany is home to a strong automotive industry and several of CATL’s key customers,” said Matthias Zentgraf, head of Europe CATL in a press release. “We believe that the combination of Germany’s industrial tradition and CATL’s tradition of innovative battery technology will greatly accelerate the electrification of the automotive industry in Europe.”
CATL has been chosen as a battery supplier by BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler, Volvo, and Bosch. One of the factors that makes Erfurt an attractive place for a battery factory is that it is within four hours of several several electric car manufacturing facilities, especially the one in Zwickau where Volkswagen will start making its ID.3 electric sedan shortly.
CATL originally expected to invest about €240 million in the new factory but has now raised that number to €1.8 billion. The factory, which is expected to begin production in 2022, will have an initial capacity of 14 GWh a year with expansion to 24 GWh planned in the years to follow. It will employ 2,000 workers when completed, according to Electrive. In exchange for incentives from the government of Thuringia, CATL has also promised to invest in local research and development programs.
While it waits for the new factory to be completed, CATL will begin manufacturing batteries at the site of the former Solar World Industries plant beginning next year. The existing facility is close to where the new factory is being built.
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