CATL and Seres will expand battery production for Aito. Over 20 GWh per year
CATL and Seres signed a long-term cooperation agreement on October 10, 2026, in Chongqing. After the expansion of the facility, the production capacity for Aito vehicles’ batteries is set to exceed 20 GWh per year, with the partnership also covering charging and international expansion.
Aito has used CATL batteries in all its models since the brand’s inception. According to the battery manufacturer, the total number of vehicles delivered has already surpassed 1.2 million units. The new agreement is intended to sustain this relationship for years, though the companies have not disclosed a specific duration.
Battery factory within the car factory
The most significant development is the second phase of the “plant-in-plant” project. CATL produces battery packs directly on the premises of Seres’ factory in Chongqing, eliminating the need to transport finished packs from a distant facility.
The expansion is set to add 10-12 GWh of annual production capacity. Once completed, both phases of the project will together exceed 20 GWh per year. However, CATL has not provided a date for launching the new lines, so we currently know the scale of the investment but not its timeline.
The first part of the facility began operations on June 30, 2025. At that time, two CTP 2.0 packaging lines were put into use. The acronym CTP stands for cell-to-pack, referring to a design where cells are placed directly into the pack without a traditional separation into individual modules. This was CATL’s first production base in Chongqing and the company’s first facility to adopt a factory within a factory model.
Chargers, Europe, and the Renewed Contract with Huawei
The partnership doesn’t end at production. CATL and Seres have announced a joint expansion of fast charging networks as well as services covering the entire battery lifecycle. The companies also aim to enter Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia more aggressively together.
There is much less detail here. No models targeted at specific markets, timelines, or methods for operating abroad have been specified. Thus, Europe alone in the announcement is not yet a promise of a specific launch.
Seres has previously secured the second pillar for Aito as well. On September 30, it signed a new 5-year contract with Huawei, and the next day the companies announced the creation of a separate team to handle the brand and customer service.
The CATL scale shows why Seres wants to maintain this relationship. According to SNE Research, in the first eight months of 2026, the company installed 333.0 GWh of power batteries globally, 25.2% more than the previous year. This gave it 39.4% of the global market share. It remains unknown, however, when the additional capacity in Chongqing will actually start powering Aito’s production.
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