The world's largest battery-maker, headquartered in Ningde, a town on the south-eastern coast of China. Founded in 2011 by Robin Zeng, a Ningde native. CATL's products power a third of the world's electric vehicles and a similar share of energy-storage systems for grids. The company's economic output has lifted Ningde's GDP above that of Estonia or Uganda.
CATL's production volume is more than double that of BYD, its closest competitor. It operates 11 manufacturing sites across China covering nearly 20m square metres, and employs over 100,000 people. It also owns lithium mines and an offshore wind farm.
Revenue fell by 10% in 2024 to 362bn yuan ($50bn), but net profit rose by 16% to 52bn yuan, delivering a margin of 14%. LG Energy Solution of South Korea, its biggest competitor outside China, made a net loss in 2024.
CATL first listed its shares in Shenzhen in 2018. On May 20th 2025 it raised almost $5bn in a secondary listing in Hong Kong—the largest share offering of the year—valuing the company at roughly $160bn. About 90% of the Hong Kong proceeds will fund a new plant in Hungary.
CATL generated 30% of its revenue abroad in 2024, up from less than 4% in 2018. Its carmaking customers include BMW, Toyota and Volkswagen. It powers grid-storage systems in Nevada and Texas and announced the world's biggest energy-storage project in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2023 it opened its first overseas factory, in Germany. A second plant in Hungary is due to start production in 2025. In December 2024 it announced a joint venture with Stellantis to build a battery factory in Spain, aiming to start production by the end of 2026.
CATL spent $2.6bn on research and development in 2024, more than triple LG Energy Solution's investment. Its research unit, known internally as "the PhDs", works across fundamental battery chemistry, manufacturing-process improvement and product development with suppliers and customers. The company holds more than 40,000 granted or pending patents.
In April 2025 it unveiled a battery that can provide 520km of driving with five minutes of charging—outdoing BYD, which a month earlier announced a battery offering 400km on the same charge time.
CATL is expanding its higher-margin energy-storage business, which accounted for 16% of revenue in 2024, up from less than 1% in 2018. It has announced a giant battery system designed for artificial-intelligence data centres that stacks vertically to minimise space. The company is also branching into batteries for trucks and ships.
CATL is constructing an integrated battery plant in West Java, Indonesia, part of nearly $10bn in combined Chinese investment in two battery projects there. Huayou Cobalt, a Chinese firm, replaced LG, a South Korean company, as the lead partner in the second project. Indonesia attracts battery-makers because it has the world's largest reserves of nickel.
America accounted for less than 6% of CATL's sales in 2024. In January 2025 the company was placed on a blacklist by America's defence department over alleged ties to China's armed forces—a designation CATL has called "a mistake". CATL batteries used by Duke Energy to help power a military base in North Carolina were decommissioned under pressure from lawmakers. In April 2025 American politicians asked banks including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America to halt their work on CATL's Hong Kong listing; the banks ignored the request. Members of Congress criticised JPMorgan and Bank of America for underwriting the share sale on May 20th 2025. CATL also licenses its technology to Ford in America.
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