#1 Battery Maker in World Says USA Can’t Make EVs without China
Why it matters: US EV goals hinge on Chinese battery tech, revealing a critical dependency and the high cost of protectionism.
- CATL founder Robin Zeng contends the US EV market is "doomed" without his company, which supplied a third of the world's new EV batteries last year, but believes US policies will eventually shift.
- Autoblog reports that Ford has partnered with CATL to build LFP batteries in Michigan, paying royalties for intellectual property, while General Motors imports CATL-sourced LFP batteries for its Chevrolet Bolt, incurring a 60% tariff due to an inability to produce cheaper domestic alternatives.
- The US auto market is currently lagging globally in EV adoption, a situation exacerbated by protectionist efforts and the massive scale and cost efficiencies achieved by China's dominant EV battery market.
China's CATL, the world's leading EV battery producer, asserts that the US cannot achieve its EV ambitions without Chinese technology, a claim supported by current US automaker reliance on CATL despite protectionist policies. While the US aims to block Chinese batteries, companies like Ford and GM are already integrating CATL-designed or sourced batteries, highlighting the immediate challenges and costs of domestic production.
