CATL Reportedly Holds Patent Covering Cell-to-Chassis EV Technology

A previously announced patent for a car chassis with adjustable lengths owned by Chinese battery giant CATL is related to cell-to-chassis (CTC) technology for electric vehicles, and is planned to be implemented before 2025, Cailian Press reported on October 11, citing an individual familiar with the matter.

An outline of the patent on Chinese business data platform Qichacha shows that the chassis includes at least two movable units, each of which is set to be adjacent to another, meaning the whole structure is adjustable in length. The innovative design allows users to adapt the chassis according to various car models.

CTC refers to a cutting-edge technology that integrates a car battery, chassis and lower body to simplify product design and production processes. Compared with cell-to-pack (CTP) technology, CTC can further reduce the number of parts, simplify production steps, and improve battery capacity and cruising range while reducing costs. CTC is considered to be the core technology that will determine success or failure in the next stage of new energy vehicle competition.

Robin Zeng, the chairman of CATL, has previously said that the CTC technology to be launched by the firm in 2025 will enable NEVs to directly compete with fuel vehicles in terms of cost, along with larger interior space. An individual familiar with the matter revealed to Yicai that CATL’s CTC technology can be adjusted according to the requirements of different car companies.

CATL plans to realize integrated CTC in 2025 and intelligent CTC in 2030. Integrated CTC will not only rearrange the batteries, but will also incorporate power components including motors, electronic controls, and more. Intelligent CTC technology will further optimize power distribution and reduce energy through intelligent power domain controllers.

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So far, many car companies have become involved in this technology. On April 25, Leapmotor released its self-developed CTC technology, and its C01 model will be the first to apply this solution. Leapmotor claimed that the application of CTC technology can reduce the number of parts and components by 20% for vehicle production, reduce costs by 15% and increase vehicle stiffness by 25%. The Model Y produced by Tesla in Berlin will also use a structural battery or CTC technology.