CATL’s newly opened battery factory will make one cell per second

At the end of last week CATL unveiled its brand new battery production base situated in Guian New District, located in the picturesque southwest region of China's Guizhou province. The 0.95 square kilometer facility already has its first phase operational.

This first stage, sprawling over about 590,000 square meters, received a hefty investment of around RMB 7 billion ($960 million). It has a production line, with an astounding 95% automation rate. This facility is churning out one cell every second, and it can assemble a full battery pack in a mere 2.5 minutes.

The production capacity of the first phase stands at 30 GWh annually. Once the second phase is complete it will reach 60 GWh per year.

According to SNE Research, a South Korean market research firm, CATL boasted a global market share of 36.9% from January to August. It makes it the world's largest battery producer, and the only company to rise above the 30% mark during that period.

The third quarter witnessed a 4.3% sequential dip in CATL's net profit, but the company still raked in RMB 10.43 billion, a respectable 10.7% increase year-on-year.

CATL's domestic market share has also seen a slight downturn this year. Data from the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA) indicated that, as of September, CATL's market share was 39.41%. It's the first instance of that dropping below the 40% mark since April of the previous year.

We'll have to wait and see how if this new battery production facility manages to reverse that trend.

Via