The world’s largest maker of electric vehicle batteries, Chinese giant CATL, has announced plans to bring its battery swapping and recycling technology to Europe.
Speaking at London Climate Action Week, CATL vice president Jiang Li, told a panel hosted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation that the company plans to deploy over 10,000 battery swap stations, starting in China but expanding to Europe.
Battery swapping, pioneered by the electric-car maker Nio, takes minutes in a purpose-built swap station and lowers the upfront cost of buying an electric car, as drivers do not own their own batteries. It also extends the life of cells and makes it easier to recycle batteries as they can be collected in bulk from service stations.
CATL claims it can achieve a near 100 per cent recycling rate for core critical minerals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese.
Within 20 years, the company says that half of new battery production will come from recycled materials in a major step towards a more environmentally friendly, circular production model.
CATL news announcement at London Climate Action WeeK: https://www.catl.com/en/news/6480.html
