PC: CNBC

According to a senior executive who spoke to CNBC, the largest manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries in the world, CATL, is considering expanding its battery swapping business to other markets.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited, sometimes known as CATL, is a provider to organisations including Tesla and Ford.

The EVOGO battery changing service was introduced by a Chinese battery manufacturer in January in ten Chinese cities. The idea is to do away with the requirement that electric vehicles stop at charging facilities. Instead, when their other battery runs out, drivers can hire battery packs from CATL and install them in their vehicles. This only takes a few minutes.

Nio, a Chinese electric vehicle start-up, also has a competing battery switching programme. According to Nio co-founder Qin Lihong, the business intends to increase that by constructing 1,000 battery switching stations outside of China by 2025, with the majority being located in Europe.

In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Li Xiaoning, executive president of international commercial application at CATL, stated that the company is also considering expanding its battery switching solution into Europe.

“This will likely begin in China this year, in my opinion. We will gradually examine EVOGO’s global reach, Li promised.

“We are beginning to assess the likelihood of working with several partners. We must comprehend the specifics in practise, he continued. “We take a lot of things into account. Product technology is one thing, but there are also other things we need to consider, such as the business case, the law, the local laws, and other similar things.

If CATL develops its operations abroad, it might be able to provide clients with battery swapping services without having to invest in the costly infrastructure themselves.

One issue CATL is dealing with is the rising price of the raw materials used to make its batteries, such lithium.

Nevertheless, despite the continued strength of the demand for electric vehicles, the company was nevertheless able to more than double its earnings in the second quarter.