NEW YORK, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd (CATL), a leading lithium-ion battery maker for electric vehicles (EVs) and supplier of energy storage facilities, has opened its first subsidiary in North America.
The subsidiary, named Contemporary Amperex Technology USA Inc. and unveiled Thursday, would mainly focus on sales, service and testing of batteries, a source with the company said on Friday.
No research and development business is involved in the new facility, according to the source.
Located in Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan, CATL's new sales and service facility will help better serve local customers.
"By being located close to our customers, we will be able to better understand their needs and improve our global supply chain. We look forward to providing more tailored customer service to our U.S.-based partners and are continuously looking for new partnerships and opportunities in the local market to further the adoption of EVs and other e-mobility solutions," said Allan Wang, general manager of CATL's operations in North America.
The company has formed partnerships with multiple U.S.-based businesses that would release products on the market soon, CATL said.
With its eye-catching technological performance, CATL has inked a series of partnership agreements with global car manufacturers including BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler, and Jaguar Land Rover.
Based in Southeast China's Fujian province, CATL is in the process of putting a technology into mass production that enables as much as 90 percent charging in 15 minutes and the company expects to achieve 300 Wh/kg of single cell energy density and 240 Wh/kg of system energy density by 2020.
Founded in 2011, shares of CATL were floated on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in June 2018 and boasted 11.84 GWh of shipments in 2017. CATL had earlier set up subsidiaries in Germany, France and Japan.
