Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Ltd (CATL) announced that it has launched trial production of battery cells at its newly built plant in Debrecen, Hungary, as the company looks to strengthen its position in Europe’s fast-expanding EV supply chain.

China’s largest EV battery manufacturer confirmed that it had recently fulfilled all the preconditions required to commence the trial production run. The purpose of trial production is to set up, optimize and validate the production equipment and manufacturing processes ahead of the start of series production.

CATL said that management of the Debrecen facility “continues to work closely with the authorities in order to ensure that high standards are maintained in terms of the environment, and the health and safety of its employees.”

CATL already has a battery plant in Europe, near Erfurt in Germany, which has been operational since 2023, supplying batteries to leading European automakers including BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen Group and Stellantis.

CATL began construction of the Debrecen plant in 2023, and launched battery module assembly in autumn 2024, with 537,000 battery modules supplied to clients to date. The installation of the battery cell manufacturing equipment was completed in second quarter of 2026, and the company obtained all the relevant permits and met the required preconditions for trial production earlier this month. The plant has a designated battery cell production capacity of 100 GWh, making it CATL's largest manufacturing base outside China.

CATL said in a statement: “As a strategic manufacturing hub, CATL's Debrecen plant will supply the most well-known, leading European automakers, which have already built significant electric vehicle production capacity in Hungary in recent years,” adding that it has installed “the most advanced, flexible production lines in Debrecen in order to fulfil the needs of its valued clients at all times.”