CATL says to supply BMW with cylindrical cell from 2025

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Chinese battery giant CATL on Friday said it will start supplying cylindrical cells to BMW from 2025 to power its new series of electric vehicles.

The battery maker has signed an agreement with BMW in which it is nominated as the supplier of the cylindrical cells for the German carmaker, CATL said without elaborating.

BMW declined to comment.

CATL has been supplying BMW for a decade. The Chinese firm is looking at potential battery factory sites in the United States to supply carmakers including BMW, with a goal of production beginning in 2026, Reuters reported earlier.

BMW will launch a dedicated electric platform by 2025. The German carmaker said its upcoming products will upend the perception the German carmaker is behind on electrification and make its stock compete with the likes of Tesla Inc.

It marks a rare move by CATL, which has been supplying most of its auto clients including Tesla with square cells.

Tesla recently started manufacturing its 4680 lithium-ion batteries, a cylindrical cell with 46-millimeter diameter and 80-millimeter length that can hold about five times the energy of its current smaller 2170 cells.

(Reporting by Zhang Yan, and Brenda Goh; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Louise Heavens)