The intelligent vehicle unit of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) announced over the weekend the completion of its first external financing at nearly 2 billion yuan ($281.1 million).
The subsidiary, Contemporary Amperex Intelligence Technology (Shanghai) Limited (CAIT-SH), plans to invest the new funding in the mass production and commercialisation of its key product “Panshi,” an EV skateboard chassis integrating battery cells directly into a vehicle’s frame using Cell-to-Chassis technology, the startup announced.
Since 2024, the subsidiary has entered into partnerships to promote the use of its Panshi chassises in passenger vehicles manufactured by the likes of BAIC Group, Avatr Technology, JAC Motors, and Vietnam’s VinFast in both domestic China and overseas markets including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
CATL also presented the Panshi chassis to Porsche AG for consideration in the German carmaker’s EV development.
Its debut financing saw CAIT-SH rope in investors including alternative asset management firm Boyu Capital, securities company Guotai Junan, investment holding group Cathay Fortune Corp, BAIC Capital, and state capital investors Shanghai STVC Group and Fortera Capital.
The official post-money valuation of the subsidiary remains undisclosed. But its valuation is said to have crossed 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) after the investment, according to multiple Chinese media outlets.
China’s CATL, a key player with roughly 38% of the global market share for EV batteries, supplies to major automakers such as Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, and Ford. The company started researching into skateboard chassises as early as 2018 and set up CAIT-SH in 2021 to dedicate its R&D in this direction.
Its Panshi chassis, which means “bedrock” in Chinese, features an integrated structure in which the EV cells are part of the vehicle’s frame to greatly improve safety, increase driving range, and lower development costs and production time for automakers. When CATL first showcased the series in December 2024, the EV battery maker highlighted the top selling point as Panshi’s ability to withstand a 120-kph (75-mph) frontal impact speed.
Now with a team of about 600 people, CAIT-SH operates production and vehicle testing facilities in southeastern China’s Yichun City and Shanghai.
