CATL – the world’s largest producer of electric vehicle batteries – currently supplies a number of automakers with those units, and will also license lithium-iron phosphate battery technology to Ford, which the automaker will use to build LFP batteries at the future BlueOval Battery Park Michigan site. Meanwhile, CATL continues to grow by leaps and bounds, even amid a general slowdown in EV demand, and now, it has debuted a new chassis for electric vehicles that it claims is far safer than existing architecture.
The new CATL EV platform – dubbed “Panshi,” or “Bedrock” – is a skateboard-style architecture that combines things like electric motors, batteries, controls, and suspensions into one single unit. It’s slated to be sold to premium brands focused on lowering costs and accelerating the development of future models, but with a major focus on safety. In fact, CATL claims that the Bedrock chassis can withstand a 75 mph frontal impact without experiencing any sort of fire or explosion risk.
On top of that, CATL claims that the Bedrock chassis can help smaller EV makers turn a profit by selling just 10,000 units annually, and that it could help shave development costs for new EV models from billions down to a mere $10 million. “Bedrock chassis introduces a revolutionary three-dimensional biomimetic tortoise shell structure, where the body and energy unit framework are integrated, deeply coupled to provide the energy unit with indestructible protection,” the company noted. “And its aircraft carrier-grade arresting structure disperses impact forces across multiple pathways during a crash, gradually decelerating the vehicle and significantly reducing the depth and speed at which obstacles intrude the cabin.”
As Ford Authority recently reported, CATL is currently talking to advisors about the possibility of creating a second stock listing in Hong Kong, which could raise $5 billion in funds and further fuel its rapid global expansion. The Chinese outfit is also in the midst of rolling out thousands of EV battery swap stations, a major development in that particular segment that could prove game-changing in the long run.
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GM was the original developer of the “Skateboard” concept for future vehicles, where the battery becomes part of the structure. The Chevy Volt was the first EV to use part of that concept. The Chevy Bolt was the next. Ford hybrids and the Focus Electric carry the battery in or near the trunk.