"How Washington's tag on China's CATL could affect Tesla"

From Reuters, January 7:

• Pentagon listing of CATL could impact future Tesla battery partnerships
• Designation could deal a blow to CATL's reputation in U.S.
• CATL denies military links, calls U.S. designation a mistake

Jan 7 (Reuters) - Washington's addition of CATL to a list of firms it says work with China's military could put Tesla founder Elon Musk in a tight spot, challenging how he balances his role in the Trump administration with his ties to China.

CATL, the world's largest battery maker, is a major supplier of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to Tesla for its Shanghai factory, the U.S. automaker's largest. Tesla has been exporting these cars equipped with CATL batteries to other markets such as Europe and Canada.

Lawmakers have decried some of CATL's battery storage projects across the United States  , arguing they represent potential security threats. The U.S. market accounted for 4% and 35% of CATL's electric vehicle (EV) and electric storage systems (ESS) batteries, respectively, in 2023, according to Citi estimates.

The U.S. Department of Defense on Monday designated CATL and other Chinese companies including tech giant Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) as linked to China's military. While the designation does not involve any restrictions on CATL's business, it can be a blow to the reputations of affected companies and serves as a stark warning to U.S. entities about the risks of doing business with them. It could also add pressure on the U.S. Treasury Department to sanction the companies....

....MUCH MORE

 

The reason we introduced this morning's post, Tesla Supplier, China's Battery Giant CATL Placed On American Blacklist  by saying "CATL has 16,000 researchers. I'm not sure the rest of the industry combined has 16,000 researchers." was because of things such as October's "China is Winning The Race for Ultra-Fast Charging EV Batteries"" and April 2024's Watch Out Elon: "Wireless EV Charging Hits Key Benchmark" which we outro'd with:

...Another development was the unveiling of a battery at the Beijing Auto Show last week. 

From Reuters, another example of those advantage flywheels accruing incremental gains for the best-of breed-companies, in this case the world's largest EV battery producer. From Reuters, April 25:

Chinese EV battery maker CATL unveils LFP battery with 1,000 km range

It's not just the 620 mile range. The battery can handle extremely fast charging. From Electrek, also April 25:

CATL unveils world’s first LFP battery with 4C ultra-fast charging for 370-mi in 10 mins

"....that can add 370 miles (600 km) range in 10 minutes..."

And the flywheels? From the time CATL introduced the predecessor to the new battery, July 11, 2023:

"CATL announces new battery with 400 kilometer range on 10 minute charge"
Have I ever mentioned the "Flywheel Effect?"
*****
I think we're witnessing the Flywheel Effect in action at, not just China's but the world's largest battery producer.
Incremental advantages lead to overwhelming business success. I don't know if there are 16,000 researchers in the entire rest of the battery biz. If that's the case, how can they catch up to CATL? 

Amazing what being able to hire 16,000 researchers can lead to.

And just for grins and giggles, from Reuters, April 29:

CATL boss visits Elon Musk's Beijing hotel on Tesla CEO's surprise trip

If interested, the October post has quite a few links on how important the iron batteries are.