Honda invests in China’s CATL for developing electric vehicle batteries

Japanese automaker Honda Motor will purchase a 1% stake in Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and the two will together develop EV batteries, the companies stated on Friday.

The move comes at a time when automakers and EV battery makers are getting along to develop electric vehicles. CATL said last year it would develop batteries with Honda and also provide batteries to Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Honda and CATL stated they would develop battery technologies and research a battery recycling business. Honda will introduce its first EV with CATL’s battery in China in 2022 and will expand the partnership with EV battery supply worldwide in the future.

Honda has agreed to a number of partnerships for making electric cars, including a joint venture with China’s GAC Group under which the Japanese automaker started selling its first all-battery EV, the Everus VE-1 SUV crossover, in China in 2019.

It has also tied up with Hitachi Ltd’s auto parts subsidiary to develop, produce and sell motors for their use in petrol hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery-electric cars.

For the North American market, Honda is working with General Motors to develop two new EVs. The two are working to develop hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology as well.

CATL is building a battery plant in Germany and it is thinking about expanding to North America. It has an office in Yokohama near Tokyo. Its Shenzhen-listed shares closed at about 200 yuan ($28.54) on Friday.