According to TheElec, Hyundai Motor is reviewing plans to purchase more Chinese batteries, which may increase the number of batteries purchased from CATL.
The sources said it is highly likely that Hyundai will more than double the amount it will buy from the battery maker. CATL expects to supply enough batteries for Hyundai to power more than 70,000 electric vehicles.
He also mentioned that Hyundai Motor has not considered buying more lithium iron phosphate batteries, and is mainly considering nickel-based batteries. The company will buy batteries with a length of 300mm or less, mainly for electric vehicles on non-E-GMP platforms.
The move is thought to come as Hyundai and sister brand Kia are building new car factories in South Korea that will specialize in electric vehicles. The plant plans to produce about 350,000 vehicles this year and plans to increase that to 1.44 million by 2030, a goal that also requires a sufficient supply of batteries.
As for why CATL, sources say it offers batteries priced lower than Korean rivals such as LG Energy Solution and SK On. Meanwhile, Hyundai Mobis, a component-making subsidiary of Hyundai Motor, is collaborating with the Chinese battery maker on cell-to-pack technology.
The two factories have signed a licensing agreement for a technology that only supports CATL batteries, and the Hyundai Mobis deal shows that Hyundai has always had plans to source more batteries from Chinese battery makers.
Hyundai’s earnings report showed that they sold about 52,000 electric vehicles globally in the third quarter of this year, up more than 27 percent year-over-year and accounting for 5.1 percent of the vehicles sold in the quarter, and that they sold 1.025 million vehicles globally in the quarter, up 14 percent year-over-year.
Kia’s earnings report showed that they sold 123,000 electric vehicles globally in the third quarter, up 5.6 percent year-over-year, including 40,000 pure electric vehicles, up 34.3 percent year-over-year.
