The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's news center recently published an article criticizing the trend of 'de-CATL' rhetoric in the electric vehicle industry. The publication argues that the success of the sector relies on the collective growth of the entire supply chain rather than the efforts of a single company.
The article notes that while automakers diversifying their supply chains is a standard market practice, it should not be framed as an opposition between vehicle manufacturers and battery suppliers. It warns that excessive vertical integration and the pursuit of 'all-encompassing' capabilities by every automaker could lead to resource misallocation and redundant construction.
CATL Chief Manufacturing Officer Ni Jun stated that expertise is critical in battery production, noting significant differences between consumer electronics batteries and power batteries. He emphasized that power batteries require high consistency, as a single vehicle pack contains hundreds or thousands of cells.
CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun highlighted that the primary challenge in battery manufacturing is maintaining consistency across billions of units. He explained that a battery pack's performance is limited by its weakest cell, which is why CATL aims to keep the cell failure rate at one in a billion.
