Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) announced a new partnership focused on rolling out electric vehicle recharging infrastructure across China.
CATL said it established a new joint venture earlier this month with local energy company Baicheng New Energy, called Shanghai Kuaibu New Energy Technology, with a registered capital of CNY50m (US$7.1m). CATL invested in a 49% stake in the new company with Baicheng controlling the remaining 51%.
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CATL said the new company would develop an intelligent integrated service network providing energy storage, EV battery recharging and battery testing services, starting with the roll out of a network of high power, superfast charging poles in car parks across the country.
The new company would begin testing the charging poles in a number of Chinese cities in the coming weeks, according to a CATL spokesman.
News of the new joint venture emerged following an announcement by the central government earlier this month that it was stepping up efforts to roll out EV recharging infrastructure across China.
At the end of February there were an estimated 1.25m charging poles in China for both public and private use, a 44% increase from a year earlier.
