Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited or better known as CATL is a world leading battery manufacturer supplying batteries to Tesla, BWM, BYD, Volvo and many more. After successfully conquering the electric vehicle (EV) battery market, CATL wants to conquer the aeronautics industry as well with their battery technology.
The founder of CATL revealed this week that his company has already conducted a flight test of a 4-tonne aircraft using their high-density batteries. This battery has a power density of 500 Wh/kg which is almost double the capacity of Li-ion batteries. With the success of this test, CATL plans to develop an 8 ton electric airplane with a flight range of up to 3000 km by 2028.
CATL has already established their aeronautics division in collaboration with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) last year. Their expertise in producing high capacity batteries combined with COMAC's expertise successfully produced China's first commercial passenger aircraft this year.
Industry players see battery-powered airplanes as dangerous and do not have a long flight range. Airbus for example is investing money to develop hydrogen-powered electric aircraft. But if China manages to dominate the field of electric airplanes, they will probably dominate it the same way they dominate the EV industry now.