Shanghai (ZXZC)- Contemporary Amperex Technology Thuringia GmbH (CATT), CATL's first plant outside of China, has kicked off volume production of lithium-ion battery cells earlier this month as scheduled, marking another milestone in CATL's global business development.

The first batch of mass-produced lithium-ion battery cells rolled off the production line at CATT's G2 building. The installation and commissioning of the remaining lines have been underway for production ramp-up.

Photo credit: CATL

The cells freshly produced passed all tests required by CATL over its global products, meaning that CATL is capable of producing and supplying cells for its European customers from the Germany-based plant.

“"The production beginning proves that we kept our promise to our customers as a reliable partner of the industry and we stay committed to Europe's e-mobility transition even under very challenging conditions like the pandemic," said Matthias Zentgraf, CATL's president for Europe.

“We are working hard to ramp up production to full capacity, which is our top priority for the coming year,” he added.

In April this year, CATT was granted the permit for battery cell production by the state of Thuringia, which allows an initial capacity of 8 GWh per year.

In the third quarter of 2021, CATT started module production in its G1 building.

With a total investment of up to €1.8 billion, CATT features a total planned production capacity of 14GWh and plans to offer local residents 2,000 jobs.