At the World Power Battery Conference in September 2026, CATL founder Robin Zeng took aim at the auto industry's accelerating development cycles. "Nearly three new models hit the domestic market every day this year, and some power battery products have shown batch failures. It's alarming," he said, according to the Chinese outlet Huxiu. "Everyone is racing for speed, specs, and price, but at the cost of product quality and consumer trust."
Zeng contrasted this with CATL's own approach, claiming the company controls cell failure rates to the parts-per-billion (ppb) level, far stricter than the industry standard of parts-per-million. But critics were quick to point out that CATL itself once prioritized energy density over safety. In 2020, CATL's NCM811 cells—with a nickel-cobalt-manganese ratio of 8:1:1—were involved in multiple spontaneous combustion incidents, leading major automakers like GAC, Geely, and SAIC to switch to the safer NCM523 chemistry.
Rivals challenge CATL's quality narrative
Two weeks after Zeng's speech, executives from Seres and Huawei's smart-car unit publicly echoed his anti-"rushed" sentiment. However, the surface unity masks a deeper power struggle. For example, the Aito M6 pure electric Max, launched at 229,800 yuan (about $32,400), swapped its CATL 100 kWh ternary lithium battery for a Gotion High-tech 81 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack. This shift illustrates how automakers are diversifying suppliers and challenging CATL's dominance.
CATL's manufacturing chief, Ni Jun, emphasized the difficulty of battery making: "Knowing how to build cars doesn't mean you know how to build batteries. It takes professionals to do professional work." CATL points to a battery pack displayed at the Beijing auto show that retained 88% capacity after six years and 840,000 km (522,000 miles) of use. The company has invested over 3 billion yuan (about $423 million) in X-ray inspection to reduce defects.
Despite these defenses, CATL's market share in China's passenger EV battery market stood at 46.7% in the first half of 2026, and 75.2% for ternary lithium batteries. Premium models like the Xiaomi SU7, Zunjie S800, and Zeekr 009 still use CATL cells. However, Xiaomi's cheaper Pengcheng series (200,000-300,000 yuan) has expanded to include CALB and Sunwoda as suppliers, signaling a move toward supplier diversification rather than outright rejection of CATL.
The battle for battery definition power
The core conflict is not just about market share but about who defines what constitutes a quality battery. CATL's traditional model involved supplying complete "black-box" battery packs, where automakers paid upfront and had little control over design. Now, automakers like Li Auto are pursuing "cell direct supply" models, where they source cells from multiple suppliers and handle integration themselves. Li Auto's L8 now uses Sunwoda cells, and Xiaomi's Pengcheng series includes CALB.
This shift is driven by the maturing of LFP and mid-nickel ternary technologies, which have made second-tier suppliers good enough for volume models. As Bernstein Research noted, the average technology iteration cycle for global EVs has lengthened from 1.8 years in 2021 to 3.2 years in 2025, and energy density growth has slowed from 15% to 7% annually—indicating that lithium battery technology is approaching physical limits.
Automakers are also taking more control. Li Auto has developed its own 5C battery with self-defined materials and cell structure, produced in a joint venture factory. Huawei's Giant Whale battery platform claims zero fires across 1.43 million packs and 160 million cells, meeting the new national standard GB38031-2025 five years early. Huawei has implemented "transparent" supply chain management, adding 20 AI inspection steps and over 200 process improvements.
Zeng's defense boils down to the idea that good batteries can't be judged by specs alone. But as rivals like CALB, Sunwoda, Gotion, and EVE narrow the gap in lifespan, range, and fast charging, they are gaining the ability to define quality standards themselves. The question is no longer whether a company is an automaker or a battery maker, but who controls the data and verification capabilities that define quality.
