Chinese battery manufacturer CATL is planning a major new automotive battery plant in Shanghai as it sets “a blistering pace of expansion that will cement its lead as the world’s number-one supplier,” unnamed sources have told Reuters. No timeline has been revealed.

Tesla appears to be very much a part of CATL’s growth strategy. The Chinese battery builder began supplying cells for the California carmaker’s Model 3 in China last year. With a new production facility near Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory, CATL will be in a position to rapidly expand the relationship. A senior source at CATL told Reuters that the company aims to provide half of the battery cells Tesla uses globally, both for vehicles and energy storage products.

The new Shanghai plant is expected to have a capacity of 80 GWh per year, enough to power some 800,000 EVs. CATL is said to have around 69 GWh in current production capacity and another 77.5 GWh under construction.

CATL is not the only battery maker that’s quickly ramping up production. In April, Tesla appealed to its suppliers to produce as much as possible. LG Energy Solution has announced plans to invest more than $4.5 billion in its US battery production over the next four years.

Source: Reuters