Connect with us
China-catl-battery-inflation-reduction-act-eligibility China-catl-battery-inflation-reduction-act-eligibility

News

CATL to build €7B battery plant in Hungary, its second in Europe

Credit: CATL

Published

on

Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, or CATL, has announced a massive investment to build a new cell manufacturing plant in Europe. CATL announced on Friday that it would invest €7.34 billion to build a 100 GWh battery plant in Hungary.

The Debrecen, Hungary battery plant would join CATL’s Munich, Germany facility as the second for the company in Europe.

The plant is expected to cover 221 hectares (546.103 acres) in the Southern Industrial Park of Debrecen and will supply both cells and modules to automakers throughout Europe. For comparison, Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin facility sits on 300 hectares of land.

“There is no doubt that our plant in Debrecen will enable us to further sharpen our competitive edge, better respond to our European customers, and accelerate the transition to e-mobility in Europe,” Founder and Chairman of CATL Dr. Robin Zeng said. “The greenfield project in Hungary will be a giant leap in CATL’s global expansion, and also an important step in our efforts to make an outstanding contribution to the green energy drive for humankind.”

The Hungary plant will utilize electricity from renewable energies, as it aligns with CATL’s goals to build a “sustainable and circular battery value chain.”

Advertisement

The size of CATL’s new Hungarian production facility will add 100 GWh to the company’s already world-class manufacturing capacity. CATL is the world’s largest battery manufacturer already, and another 100 GWh would only increase its plans for nearly 1,000 GWh of annual production across its production facilities.

CATL recently announced plans for a potential $5 billion battery cell production plant in North America. However, Nancy Pelosi’s recent trip to Taiwan, which was not supported by China’s government, derailed these plans potentially as CATL stated it had put the potential site’s development on hold.

Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz, also commented on CATL’s decision to build a plant in Hungary:

“This new state-of-the art European CATL plant in Hungary is another milestone for the scale-up of our EV production together with our key partners. With CATL we have a technology-leader as our partner to provide us – as the first and biggest customer of the new plant’s initial capacity – with top-notch CO2 neutral battery cells for our next generation EVs in Europe, hence following our local-to-local approach in procurement. We’re proud to see our Ambition 2039 supported by CATL’s commitment to CO2 neutral production in Hungary.”

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com

Advertisement

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Elon Musk just roasted Sam Altman’s Tesla Roadster cancellation

“And you forgot to mention act 4, where this issue was fixed and you received a refund within 24 hours.

But that is in your nature.”

Published

on

Elon Musk has responded to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s decision to cancel his Tesla Roadster reservation, which he revealed on X on Thursday.

We reported on Altman’s decision, which he called “A tale in three acts,” showing his confirmation email from Tesla back in 2018, an email requesting his $50,000 deposit back after canceling his order, and a notification from Google that the email he sent was not delivered.

Musk did not take too kindly to the post from his tech rival, first referencing his position with OpenAI, and then confirming that Altman received his reservation deposit back within 24 hours:

Advertisement

OpenAI was started by Musk, Altman, and others back in 2015, and was geared toward being a non-profit company that would develop safe artificial intelligence that would be accessible to people.

However, Musk and Altman did not agree on the future of the company. Musk left, and Altman turned OpenAI into a for-profit company. This led to a variety of lawsuits and some very public spats between the two. Musk has called out Altman for turning the company into a for-profit, which has been his main source of criticism for his former colleague.

Advertisement

The Roadster has been hanging in the balance of Tesla’s manufacturing plans for seven years, but the company has made more indications that it will be unveiled later this year and will have some insane technologies.

Musk said on Friday in an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast that Tesla is “getting close to demonstrating the prototype.”

He said:

“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one…I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever. [It will be unveiled] hopefully before the end of the year. You know, we need to make sure that it works. This is some crazy technology in this car. Let’s just put it this way: if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”

Musk hinted that the vehicle could fly and would have “crazy technology” that would put James Bond’s vehicles to shame. It will be interesting to see what Tesla will unveil when the event happens and if it can come through on this mind-blowing teaser.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

SpaceX successfully launches 100th Starlink mission of 2025

With 100 Starlink missions completed for 2025, space enthusiasts have noted that SpaceX has successfully launched 2,554 Starlink satellites so far this year.

Published

on

Spacex-starlink-dish-gigabit-speed-vs-europe
(Credit: Starlink)

SpaceX achieved its 100th Starlink mission of the year on Friday, October 31, marking another milestone for 2025. 

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink broadband satellites successfully lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:41 p.m. ET, carrying another 28 Starlink satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Falcon 9 booster’s 29th flight

Roughly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage touched down on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. This marked the booster’s 29th flight, which is approaching SpaceX’s reuse record of 31 missions.

This latest mission adds to SpaceX’s impressive 138 Falcon 9 launches in 2025, 99 of which were dedicated to Starlink, according to Space.com. The company’s focus on reusing boosters has enabled this breakneck pace, with multiple launches each week supporting both Starlink’s expansion and external customers.

Starlink’s network continues massive global expansion

Starlink remains the largest active satellite constellation in history, with more than 10,000 satellites launched, nearly 8,800 of which are currently active. SpaceX recently achieved Starlink’s 10,000-satellite milestone. With 100 Starlink missions completed for 2025, space enthusiasts have noted that SpaceX has successfully launched 2,554 Starlink satellites so far this year.

Advertisement

Starlink, which provides high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity even to the world’s most remote areas, has been proven to be life-changing technology for people across the globe. The service is currently operational in about 150 countries, and it currently has over 5 million subscribers worldwide. From this number, 2.7 million joined over the past year.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla shares updated timeframe for Cybertruck FSD V14 release

The Cybertruck was expected to receive FSD V14 before the end of the month, but Tesla was not able to meet the target.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) V14 update for the Cybertruck could arrive this weekend, as per recent comments from Director of Autopilot Software and VP of AI Ashok Elluswamy. 

The Cybertruck was expected to receive FSD V14 before the end of the month, but Tesla was not able to meet the target.

Cybertruck FSD V14

Considering the extended wait for FSD V14, it was no surprise that several Cybertruck owners were asking for updates about the system’s rollout to the all-electric pickup truck on Friday. These included the official Cybertruck X account, which responded to Elluswamy’s end of month estimate with “I only see trick. Where is my treat.” 

This prompted a response from the AI executive, who replied with, “Sorry, pushing for early access Cyber release over the weekend.” This means that if all goes well, Cybertruck owners would be able to experience FSD V14 very soon. Some, however, are wondering if Tesla would go straight to V14.2 for the Cybertruck’s FSD V14 update, or if the vehicle will receive V14.1 first. 

Tesla pushes to unify FSD experience across its lineup

The upcoming Cybertruck rollout represents the next step in Tesla’s efforts to roll out FSD capabilities across all of its vehicles. FSD V14 is a notable step forward for the company’s AI-driven self driving system, with features like Mad Max mode getting positive reviews from longtime Full Self Driving testers.

Advertisement

For the Cybertruck, the FSD V14 update would mark one of its first major over-the-air upgrades for the vehicle. Likely due to its size, the Cybertruck tends to receive FSD updates later than the S3XY lineup, which is quite surprising considering that the all-electric pickup truck is a premium-priced vehicle that is home to some of Tesla’s most advanced technologies.

Continue Reading

Trending