Daihatsu strikes deal with world’s biggest battery maker in win for city EVs

Daihatsu, the Japanese small hatchback manufacturer has announced a collaborative partnership with CATL, the world’s largest battery maker. Both companies have signed a memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership.

Daihatsu currently leads in the small inner-city mini hatchbacks, vans and small trucks vehicle segments. This partnership between the two companies will help Japan’s transition towards electrified mobility. 

As part of this collaboration, CATL will provide battery cell and management technologies. These will include cell-to-pack (CTP) and battery management systems (BMS) for Daihatsu vehicles.

CATL’s experience with various battery chemistries and technologies will help Daihatsu build smaller EVs that can travel further and maintain the smaller city-vehicle form factor.

The battery maker currently supplies battery packs for the majority of the Teslas delivered to Australian customers. The company’s lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery is found in Tesla Model 3 & Model Y single-motor RWD models.

CATL was also recently at the All-Energy conference in Melbourne. This was the first time the leading battery maker was seen at an energy conference in Australia.

Daihatsu specialises in smaller inner-city cars which are very popular in Japan and developing markets. In September 2022 alone, the brand produced 163,670 vehicles globally.

Daihatsu has previously set a target to only sell EVs by 2030 which is a big commitment from a major Japanese car brand.

This deal with CATL will not only help Daihatsu in Japan but also towards a healthy used EV market for the developing countries that currently import used vehicles from Japan.

The Driven’s View: This is great news for inner-city EVs as there aren’t many hatchback models currently on the market. That’s despite the hatchback segment being quite popular in Australia. 

These days it is dominated by low-cost brands like MG. MG has sold more than 13,435 small MG MG3 hatchbacks in Australia so far. These vehicles are often purchased by hire car companies as well as fleets. 

Traditionally the small inner-city hatchback segment was dominated by ICE cars like the Hyundai Accent and Toyota Yaris hatchback.

This collaboration between Daihatsu and CATL seems quite promising and is a step in the right direction for Daihatsu’s parent company, Toyota, which has lagged in the EV race so far. 

Smaller, more affordable vehicles are important in many parts of the world, including ours in Australia. Daihatsu’s imminent launch of EVs can only be a good thing for decarbonising transport globally.