- The deal marks CATL's second eVTOL battery supply agreement this month.
- CATL also announced plans yesterday to jointly establish a battery airworthiness laboratory with a university.
EVT Aerotechnics has entered into a strategic partnership with CATL (HKEX: 3750), selecting the Chinese battery maker to supply batteries for its passenger and cargo electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
CATL said in a statement on Thursday that it recently signed an agreement with EVT to become its exclusive battery partner.
CATL said it will provide EVT with aviation batteries offering high energy density, long range and high safety levels. The statement did not disclose specific aircraft models, battery specifications, the value of the deal or a supply timeline.
EVT founder and chairman Ren Wenguang and CATL chairman and CEO Robin Zeng attended and witnessed the signing.
The agreement adds battery supply support for EVT's aircraft development and commercialization efforts, extending CATL's recent push to expand its partnerships in electric aviation.
According to details disclosed in January, EVT signed a strategic cooperation agreement and an agreement for intended purchases totaling about 1.2 billion yuan ($178 million) with Jiangsu Financial Leasing Co Ltd.
The intended purchases cover long-endurance inspection aircraft, cargo eVTOLs and passenger eVTOLs, rather than passenger aircraft alone.
CATL is also expanding its efforts in aviation battery airworthiness validation. On November 11, the company signed an agreement with the Civil Aviation University of China to jointly establish a laboratory for technological innovation in aviation battery airworthiness.
The partners will study airworthiness standards and methods for demonstrating compliance for all-electric and hybrid aviation energy systems, as well as low-altitude applications. They will also build platforms for battery safety testing and airworthiness validation.
Earlier, on November 2, CATL announced cooperation agreements with Blue Vector Intelligent Technology, whose Skyla Aviation business also selected it as its exclusive battery partner.
That partnership centers on the Skyla V30, a 6-seat all-electric tiltrotor aircraft, for which CATL will develop customized aviation batteries.
CATL invests in Autoflight as it targets emerging eVTOL sector - CnEVPostCATL invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Autoflight, the first known CATL investment in an eVTOL maker.($1 = 6.7174 yuan)
