Changan's latest Deepal L06 is powered by the battery system from CATL. (Photo/Deepal)
Chongqing - Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and Changan Automobile signed a five-year memorandum in Chongqing on Jan. 14 to deepen cooperation in frontier areas, including battery-swapping mobility solutions, intelligent automotive robotics, flying vehicles, and embodied intelligence.
Also on the same day, the Times Changan 25-GWh power-battery base broke ground in Beibei District, Chongqing, in the Sichuan-Chongqing Gaozhu New Area. Backed by 5.5 billion yuan (about 790 million U.S. dollars) in investment, the project spans over 1,000 mu (about 66.7 hectares) and is expected to generate more than 10 billion yuan in annual output, supplying batteries for Changan’s AVATR, DEEPAL and NEVO NEV brands.
The project is expected to break ground in the first quarter of 2026 and begin production in the second half of 2027, with the goal of reaching full capacity within three years after production starts.
Changan and CATL had previously established a Times Changan new-energy power-battery base in Yibin, Sichuan Province. Last year, its Phase I capacity expansion achieved 30 GWh of annual power-battery capacity, supplying models under AVATR, DEEPAL, and NEVO. On the production line at the Times Changan Yibin plant, one battery pack is produced every 2.5 minutes. In less than three hours, these batteries can be shipped to Changan's Liangjiang plant in Chongqing.
However, further capacity expansion has been driven by Changan's rising new-energy vehicle output and the need for a more stable battery supply. “Changan's annual new-energy vehicle output is about 1.2 million units, while existing battery capacity can only support 700,000 to 800,000 units, leaving an annual gap of about 400,000 to 500,000 units,” said Zhou Anjian, who is leading the Times Changan project.
He added: “By coordinating Sichuan's lower public gas prices with Chongqing's more competitive industrial electricity prices, we can optimize factor allocation, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.”
As an interprovincial cooperation platform, the Sichuan-Chongqing Gaozhu New Area is seen as an important pivot for shortening supply distance and improving response efficiency.
The new area is about 70 kilometers from Changan's Liangjiang plant. A package of cross-provincial “one-stop” services provides administrative support, helping the power-battery supply chain respond more quickly to market demand.
This came at a critical moment. Chongqing's full-year vehicle output in 2025 exceeded 2.78 million units, surpassing Guangzhou and ranking No. 1 among Chinese cities by auto production.
In recent years, Chongqing has raised the local support for new-energy vehicle components, building a more complete localized supply system. Battery-industry clustering is also accelerating. By the end of 2024, ten battery companies, including BYD, REPT BATTERO, HiTHIUM, and Ganfeng LiEnergy, had set up operations in Chongqing, with a combined capacity of about 260 GWh and total investment of more than 73 billion yuan, spanning power batteries, energy-storage batteries, and products such as solid-state batteries.
It is planned that by 2027, the comprehensive local supporting rate for intelligent connected new-energy vehicle components in Sichuan and Chongqing is expected to reach 70%.