Chinese electric car battery makers out to show the world they have power and quality to go the distance

Industry observers say Chinese EV battery makers have been striving to improve their technology

As a result, they have been tying up with foreign companies, investing in R&D and hiring the best overseas talent to match their overseas competitors

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Industry observers say Chinese EV battery makers have been striving to improve their technology. Illustration: SCMP

Daniel Renin ShanghaiandPearl Liuin Hong Kong

Published: 8:00am, 21 Dec 2019Updated: 11:48am, 6 Jan 2020

Eric Huang is in the market to buy an electric car. The Shanghai native has not yet zeroed in on a particular model, but driving range is a top priority.

“Electric is the new trend, so I have decided to replace my old car with an electric vehicle,” he said. “I need a car with a long driving range because I often drive to neighbouring cities like Suzhou and Hangzhou for business.”

Huang has his eyes on Tesla though, which is expected to soon start making its Model 3 cars at its Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, its first plant outside America. But he wants to make sure that the car will use electric batteries from its current supplier, Panasonic of Japan.

The car, which has a range of 500km on a single charge, meets his requirement, but he isn’t that keen on a Tesla if the US electric carmaker uses batteries from a local supplier, as he is not convinced of their quality.

It has been reported that China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) had reached a preliminary agreement to supply the US carmaker. CATL would not comment on the deal, but said it has big plans, which would be unveiled next year.

Panasonic chief executive Kazuhiro Tsuga has said that the company had no plans to build a new battery plant for Tesla in China as it was struggling to make profits from its existing battery business with the US EV maker.