GM reportedly in talks with CATL to license LFP battery tech
Here's a story with a lot of layers, and it starts in China. The Beijing Late Post reports (translated, and via Car News China) that battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Company (CATL) is in talks with General Motors about establishing a North American battery production facility that would duplicate the licensing agreement Ford arranged with CATL for Ford's Blue Oval Battery Park in Michigan (BOPP). The BOPP, announced a year ago, would have Ford pay for the factory and production equipment, then license CATL's lithium iron phosphate battery technology. CATL would set up the plant and train Ford personnel, and help Ford set up a supply chain that satisfies IRA tax credit requirements, but have no financial interest in the plant, making its money from the licensing fee and royalties for the batteries produced. The Late Post cited unnamed sources for the GM news, saying that this potential plant is being considered for the U.S. or Mexico, and would be capable of making just as many batteries as Ford's facility.
