CATL to Exceed 1,000GWh Capacity by 2026, Advance Sodium-Ion Battery Mass Production and Expand AI Integration

At the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum held on June 23, 2026, Robin Zeng, founder and chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), announced that the company’s production capacity would exceed 1,000 GWh in 2026. He revealed that CATL is heavily investing in sodium-ion battery technology, aiming to achieve mass production this year, and is prioritizing energy storage as a key growth area to reduce reliance on lithium-ion batteries. However, he noted that it will still take three to five years to significantly scale up sodium-ion battery deployment for energy storage. Zeng also highlighted that China’s power grid infrastructure has demonstrated robust and stable development, with no instances of unexpected blackouts. Yet, maintaining this stability requires continuous large-scale investment. Additionally, CATL has already deployed AI systems across multiple manufacturing facilities, applying artificial intelligence in various areas including energy storage, which has helped cut electricity costs by 30%. According to data, despite a 5.6% year-over-year decline in domestic auto sales and an overall sluggish market in the first quarter of 2026, CATL reported revenue of RMB 129.131 billion for the quarter—surpassing the combined full-year 2025 revenues of Li Auto, NIO, and XPeng. Its net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 20.738 billion, exceeding the combined net profits of seven leading Chinese independent automakers during the same period.