Isn’t it interesting how our focus on batteries has shifted. They’ve gone from being the source of peripheral automotive power (despite Karl Benz’s early work) to being primary. Now battery companies have grown to become an integral part of our future. CATL is a name worthy of more than notice, it’s worth our attention. CATL, the leading EV battery manufacturer, recently achieved a battery rated for 1 million miles (1.6 million km). Innovative, the company unveiled a sodium-ion battery for the automotive market.

The story of CATL begins with one man: Robin Zeng Yuqun, born in 1968 in Ningde, a small farming city in Fujian province, China. Zeng majored in shipbuilding at Shanghai Jiaotong University, then joined SAE Magnetics (a TDK subsidiary), quickly becoming the youngest director of engineering there. His superiors sent him abroad to learn about batteries and in the 1990s, when Sony commercialized the first lithium-ion battery, Zeng saw the future. 

In 1999, Zeng co-founded Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) with two former colleagues, producing lithium polymer batteries for digital gadgets, including iPhones. In 2005, ATL was acquired by Japan’s TDK for $100 million, but Zeng stayed on as a manager. 

When the Chinese government started subsidizing EVs in 2009, ATL’s R&D division began working on EV batteries. In 2011, a group of Chinese investors led by Zeng and vice-chairman Huang Shilin spun off the EV battery operations of ATL into the new company, CATL , after acquiring an 85% stake. TDK retained a 15% stake until 2015. 

Early Growth & the BMW Breakthrough (2012–2017)

Preferring a low profile, Zeng set up headquarters back in his hometown of Ningde, far from China’s tech hubs and from here, CATL quietly began building its empire, riding the wave of EVs and benefiting from China’s dominance over rare earth elements. 

Only one year after its creation, CATL secured a pivotal partnership with BMW, which validated its technology and credibility. “We have learned a lot from BMW, and now we have become one of the top battery manufacturers globally,” Zeng said. “The high standards and demands from BMW helped us grow fast.” Critically, because BYD (a major Chinese competitor) chose to keep its batteries exclusively for its own vehicles, the path was open for CATL to supply foreign automakers. 

In January 2017, CATL announced a strategic partnership with Valmet Automotive, acquiring a 22% stake in the Finnish firm. In June 2018, CATL went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. That same year, BMW announced it would purchase €4 billion worth of batteries from CATL for the electric Mini and iNext, and CATL announced its first European battery factory in Arnstadt, Germany. 

Accelerating Dominance (2018–2022)

Since early 2020, CATL also became a supplier to Tesla’s Gigafactory, further cementing its global status.  Tesla, at its peak, represented a significant slice of revenue accounting for roughly 10–11.6% of CATL’s revenue in 2021–2022. 

In June 2020, Zeng announced CATL had achieved a battery rated for 1 million miles (1.6 million km). In 2021 the company unveiled a sodium-ion battery for the automotive market and acquired a near 25% stake in the DRC’s Kisanfu cobalt mine, one of the world’s largest. 

In the first half of 2022, CATL ranked first globally with a market share of 34%. CATL announced plans for a battery factory in Debrecen, Hungary, and its Yibin plant became the world’s first certified zero-carbon battery factory. 

Corporate Structure & Ownership

CATL is a publicly traded company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (stock code 300750).  In February 2025, CATL also filed for a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, aiming to raise over $5 billion to fund international expansion in Hungary, Spain, and Indonesia. Cornerstone investors included Sinopec, the Kuwait Investment Authority, Hillhouse Investment, and Oaktree Capital Management.  The Hong Kong IPO was completed on May 20, 2025, raising HK$35.7 billion (~USD 4.57 billion) in just 128 days. 

Ownership is structured as follows:

• Founder Robin Zeng is the largest individual shareholder. Domestic institutions — top mutual funds, securities firms, and the National Social Security Fund — hold significant non-controlling stakes. Passive/index funds and foreign investors (via MSCI/FTSE-linked ETFs and Stock Connect) also hold notable aggregate exposure. Automaker customers generally do not hold governance-shaping stakes. 

Business segments span two core pillars:

• Power batteries — cells and packs for EVs and hybrids

• Energy storage systems (ESS) — grid-scale and industrial storage

CATL has also been evolving into a system solutions provider, with growing revenues from Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS), integrated solar-storage-charging, AI-driven lifecycle management, and overseas EPC energy storage contracts. BofA Global Research notes its revenue is increasingly tied to deployment scale and service contracts rather than raw lithium prices. 

Present Position (2025–Early 2026)

CATL is in a league of its own. Its 2025 Annual Report (released March 2026) showed operating revenue of RMB 423.7 billion (up 17%), net profit of RMB 72.2 billion (up 42%), and net cash flow of RMB 133.2 billion. Global lithium battery sales reached 661 GWh, up 39%. 

Through October 2025, CATL accounted for 38.1% of the global EV battery market, the number one position for nine consecutive years. China’s BYD ranked second with 16.9%, followed by LG Energy Solution at 9.3%. 

CATL’s global innovation network comprises six R&D centres and 23,000 personnel, holding over 54,000 patents. R&D spending reached RMB 22.1 billion in 2025, with cumulative investment exceeding RMB 90 billion. 

Total production capacity reached 772 GWh by end of 2025, with an additional 321 GWh under construction. The company operates about 1,200 after-sales service stations in 75 countries. 

Independent analysis by Bernstein found CATL supplies batteries for 42 of 84 BEV models with over 700 km range, including Dongfeng’s Voyah Free (901 km) and Xiaomi’s YU7 (810 km). 

Who are CATL partners ?

CATL has one of the broadest customer bases in the industry:

Western automakers: BMW, Daimler/Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Honda, PSA/Stellantis, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. 

Chinese OEMs: Zeekr, Aito, Li Auto, Xiaomi, NIO, and XPeng. 

American brands: Ford and Volkswagen’s North American operations are also among their supply partners. 

Energy storage customers: Utilities, grid operators, and industrial clients across 75 countries via direct ESS contracts.

In the premium vehicle segment (vehicles priced above USD ~$35,000), CATL holds over 70% market share globally. 

Joint ventures: In December 2024, CATL and Stellantis announced a 50-50 joint venture to build a €4.1 billion LFP battery plant in Zaragoza, Spain, with a 50 GWh capacity expected by 2026. Manufacturing Footprint

CATL operates 15 battery manufacturing plants worldwide , with key locations including:

• China: Ningde (flagship HQ), Yibin (world’s first zero-carbon battery factory), and several others

• Germany: Erfurt/Arnstadt (operational since 2022)

• Hungary: Debrecen (large-scale production coming online)

• Spain: Zaragoza (JV with Stellantis, under construction)

Future Direction of CATL

CATL is betting on several technology pillars simultaneously:

1. Sodium-ion batteries (Naxtra): At its April 2026 “Beyond the Pole” Super Tech Day, CATL announced Naxtra sodium batteries will enter large-scale mass production in Q4 2026, having resolved four core engineering challenges including extreme water control, hard carbon gas generation, and aluminum foil adhesion.  The first mass-produced sodium battery passenger vehicle developed jointly with Changan Automobile was unveiled in February 2026, with market launch expected mid-year. When the supply chain matures, CATL expects sodium-battery vehicles to achieve up to 600 km range. 

2. Ultra-fast charging: CATL unveiled a third-generation Supercharging battery capable of a full charge in just 6 minutes, and a Qilin condensed matter battery targeting 1,500 km range. 

3. Solid-state batteries: CATL filed international patents for solid-state battery cells addressing sulfide electrolyte instability, supporting a pilot pathway toward 2027. 

4. Battery recycling & circular economy: CATL recycled 210,000 tonnes of used batteries in 2025 (up 63.2%), recovering 24,000 tonnes of lithium salts (up 40.4%). The company launched the Global Energy Circularity Commitment (GECC) to promote battery recycling worldwide. 

5. Zero-carbon ecosystem: CATL is working with Chinese provinces to develop the world’s first off-grid zero-carbon industrial park powered entirely by direct renewable electricity, which will supply 100% green power to a 40 GWh battery plant. 

6. AI integration: CATL won the World Economic Forum’s MINDS award for AI-driven battery design. 

As CATL Chairman Robin Zeng put it at Tech Day 2026: “For CATL, R&D investment is not a cost; it is the ability to ride through cycles.”  With over 60,000 patents, a 23,000-strong R&D team, and a near-40% share of the global battery market, CATL remains the undisputed center of gravity in the world’s most important new energy technology.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​