, Columnist
The Global EV Transition Hinges on One Chinese Company
Going electric without CATL won’t be easy — and neither will competing with it.
Indispensable.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The world’s largest battery maker doesn’t need Ford Motor Co. or Tesla Inc. It’s the US — and global — carmakers, desperate to go electric quickly, that need the Chinese behemoth.
In recent months, news that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., or CATL, will make its way to American soil with partners like Ford and Tesla has rustled feathers. The increasing number of automakers turning to the one Chinese firm that has dominated the market for years raises a broader question: How did a single company manage to position itself as such a critical cog, with the world so deeply dependent on it?