China's CATL open to building US plant if Trump gives OK

Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world's largest electric vehicle battery maker in terms of installation, will consider building a plant in the United States if US President-elect Donald Trump opens the door to Chinese investment, reported media.

"Originally, when we wanted to invest in the US, the US government said no," Robin Zeng, the company's founder and chairman, said in an interview with Reuters. "For me, I'm really open-minded."

Zeng also told Reuters that he expected the business of developing and managing "zero carbon" electric grids could be 10 times larger than supplying EV batteries.

The company aims to build independent energy systems big enough to power a massive data center or even a city, he said.

In a separate strategic move, CATL is also planning to offer an off-the-shelf EV platform with a long-range battery integrated into a chassis.

According to Zeng, the move aims to enable customers customize their own EVs by designing only the interior and exterior.

Such efforts, Zeng said, are to sharply cut EV development costs and open the whole industry to new competitors.