ChinaChangan has announced, through the Shenzhen Stock Exchange platform, that the capacity of its battery joint venture with CATL will rise from the previously planned 50 GWh to 75 GWh. The venture was set up in 2023 and already supplies cells to Avatr, Deepal and Nevo, the electric brands of Changan’s group.
The new site
The extra 25 GWh comes from a new facility of about 700,000 square metres in a high-tech zone between Chongqing and Sichuan Province. The investment is estimated at 5 billion yuan (~$743 million). Operations are due to start in 2027, and the full 25 GWh is to be reached within three years of that. Changan says the cells made there will use CATL’s latest battery technology.
Golden Bell is a separate programme
Some coverage ties the 1,500 km range figure to this deal. It does not belong to it. Changan’s own solid-state cells, called Golden Bell, carry targets of up to 400 Wh/kg, more than 1,500 km of range, more than 5,000 charge cycles and 6C charging. Changan aims to bring vehicles with them to market in 2026 and to ramp up commercial production in 2027. Electrive describes these as development targets and notes that series readiness has not been confirmed, so no car on sale today delivers them.
Solid-state labelling is also about to change. China published GB/T 48093.1-2026 at the end of August, a standard that separates all-solid-state, semi-solid and hybrid cells. It formally takes effect at the start of 2028.
Sodium-ion is further along
CATL tested its Naxtra sodium-ion cells in several passenger car projects at the start of 2026, among them Changan’s Oshan brand. A few weeks later the Nevo A06 was announced as a series sedan with a 45 kWh Naxtra pack and an expected range of more than 400 km on the CLTC cycle. CATL gives the cells an energy density of 175 Wh/kg, which it says is approaching today’s LFP cells.
