CATL Unveils Chassis It Says Can Withstand Fires From Crashes

(Bloomberg) — Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. unveiled a new car chassis with an integrated battery strong enough to withstand fires or explosions from high-impact collisions.

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The world’s largest maker of electric vehicle batteries said it has signed up Chinese EV brand Avatr, which it part owns with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., to jointly develop cars based on the new chassis.

The new chassis is unique, CATL said at a media briefing Tuesday, in the way it can decouple from the upper body of a car and better absorb energy from frontal collisions of up to 120kms/hour. The battery remained intact, according to a video that was shown.

The risk of EV battery fires, which are difficult to extinquish, is a detraction for some would-be buyers. In South Korea, for example, a battery fire earlier this year in a Mercedes that wasn’t even charging sparked a slump in sales and heightened fears about the risk of EVs.

China’s CATL is deepening its push beyond just building batteries for EVs and storage amid slowing demand for pure-battery cars and a resurgence in the popularity of hybrids. Earlier this month it unveiled its latest generation battery swapping service to rival Nio Inc., and in April last year, it said it was working on a battery that could one day power an aircraft.

The company’s battery-as-a-subscription service plans to have 1,000 battery swapping stations by the end of 2025, and as many as 40,000 over time. That should help spur EV adoption and cut the cost of cars, considering the battery is the most expensive component, CATL hopes.