Why haven’t we seen a car manufacturer boasting about
a new electric vehicle with a 1.24-million-mile battery?
Because nobody has placed an order with CATL yet. But
according to Zeng, “If someone places an order, we are
ready to produce.”
CATL’s closest relationship in the electric vehicle sector
seems to be with Tesla, after it signed a two-year deal to
supply Model 3 batteries back in February. According to
Zeng, he regularly talks with Elon Musk and says,
“We’re getting along well and he’s a fun guy ... He’s
talking about cost all day long, and I’m making sure we
have the solutions.”
Tesla also stated last year it was planning a million-mile
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to use CATL’s new battery. However, CATL has existing
relationships with BMW, Volkswagen, and Porsche, so
any or all of them could opt to use it post-pandemic.
As for cost,
it’s only 10
percent more
expensive
than the
batteries being
used in
electric
vehicles today.PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION (^) I SUBSCRIBE (^) I JULY 2020