Xpeng is diversifying its suppliers of batteries for their electric vehicles and does not consider CATL its main supplier, the Xpeng president said.
The Chinese electric battery giant this year was found to be raising the prices of their batteries and Xpeng began looking for alternative suppliers in the hope of controlling costs.
According to the Chinese consulting firm, Gaogong Industry Institute Xpeng is CATL’s third largest client in terms of installed battery volume. Tesla and Nio are the first and second largest clients of CATL.
To diversify its electric vehicle battery supply, Xpeng is working with Sunwoda, a smaller Chinese battery maker, to develop a fast charging battery for the recently launched G9 electric SUV. The battery allows the G9 electric SUV to reach 80% charge in 15 minutes.
“We have already diversified our battery supplier arrangement. CATL is no longer our largest material supplier. We actually have worked with several high-quality battery suppliers, for example, EVE, CALB,” Gu said.
In China’s electric vehicle battery market, CATL remains at the forefront with 47.45% market share, while CALB ranks third and Sunwoda ranks fifth, accounting for 7% and 2.5%, respectively, of total battery supply in the first eight months, according to China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance.
The Xpeng G9 is claimed to be the world’s fastest-charging production electric SUV
