BYD, the first Chinese company to make lithium-ion batteries, started as a mobile phone battery manufacturer for 8 years before entering the EV industry in 2003.
Are Chinese companies making the most advanced batteries?
Companies in China like CATL were manufacturing products en-masse, but rarely did they make the most advanced products. Most advanced battery research was happening in national labs in the United States. But today, many of the world's most advanced batteries are being built by Chinese companies like CATL.
The world's first true battery was invented in 1800 by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. This invention represented a remarkable breakthrough, but since then there have been only a handful of significant innovations in batteries.
BYD was the first Chinese company to make lithium-ion batteries. The production method invented by BYD helped lower the barrier of entry for many local firms, in terms of capital requirements. The company also became a hub for talent in the battery industry.
How did BYD become the largest EV battery manufacturer in China?
Using its own in-house supply of batteries, BYD established a joint venture with Daimler, and, with some investment from Warren Buffet, led the industry in EV sales in China for four consecutive years to become the largest EV battery manufacturer in China.
Beijing's end goal, however, has always been to expand beyond its own shores, supplying batteries to carmakers in the rest of the world. Until now, CATL's success has been a result of shrewd business and engineering decisions, combined with heavy doses of luck and government subsidies.
Who makes the world's largest lithium-ion battery?
By 2017, CATL had overtaken Panasonic as the world's largest lithium-ion battery producer in terms of sales, managing to lower production costs compared to its Korean and Japanese rivals by increasing the scale of production. German carmakers had no choice but to rely on China to secure their EV batteries. It wasn't just Germany though.