When Wolfgang Tiefensee first made his pitch to the world’s biggest maker of electric-vehicle batteries, he was told he stood no chance of luring investment to Germany.
More than a year and two trips to China later, Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. agreed to build its first foreign plant in the eastern German state of Thuringia. According to Tiefensee, CATL overlooked the high taxes, labor and energy costs relative to other locations because he promised what the government in Berlin is not willing to give: access to German high-tech R&D.
