CATL Still Targets Small-Scale All-Solid-State Battery Output in 2027
CATL said on Oct. 27 it still expects small-scale all-solid-state battery production in 2027 but named no volume, customer or vehicle. Chairman Robin Zeng put the industry at level 4 of 9 in June.
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CATL Chairman Robin Zeng at the World Energy Storage Conference. The photo is from CATL's newsroom and does not show solid-state cells.
Image: CATL
Source · Press image from the CATL newsroom, used for news reporting.
CATL said on Oct. 27 that it still expects small-scale production of all-solid-state batteries in 2027, according to EnergyTrend. The company made the statement on an investor interactive platform and gave no capacity, customer or vehicle programme.
CATL's only stated date is 2027 for small-scale production, according to EnergyTrend; no volume or customer has been named.
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CATL said it remains committed to research and development in the technology and that its own know-how is industry-leading. EnergyTrend reported that the work this year has centred on material systems and electrode interfaces, backed by patent filings.
For buyers of storage and EV cells, the date matters because it puts a first solid-state volume well after current lithium-ion supply contracts begin. Nothing in the statement points to a cell for stationary storage or data-center backup. Any early output would be a pilot-scale supply, not a change in what grid operators can order today.
What the patents and the readiness gauge show
EnergyTrend said the World Intellectual Property Organization published a CATL international patent application in March covering positive electrode sheets, solid-state cells and cathode active materials, built around a sulfide solid electrolyte. In May, China's patent office disclosed a second CATL application on coated cathode active materials meant to improve cycling stability.
At the 2026 Summer Davos forum in June, CATL Chairman Robin Zeng said the industry was roughly at level 4 on a 1-to-9 technology readiness scale, where level 9 is a route ready for mass production. He listed reliability, safety, supply chain capacity and market acceptance as the factors that decide industrialization, EnergyTrend reported.
Where the field stands
EnergyTrend cited TrendForce's second-quarter 2026 solid-state quarterly report, which said equipment buying and bidding for pilot lines at CATL, BYD and FAW Group has progressed smoothly. That moves the technology toward readiness levels 4 to 5 in the first half of 2026, per the report.
Other makers are also working toward small runs. As Voltgrid reported, QuantumScape plans a 100 MWh solid-state cell line with production targeted for 2028, and EVE Energy rolled out a 1,045 Wh/L solid-state cell for brain implants.
What is not confirmed yet
The investor reply did not say how many cells CATL expects to make, what energy density they will reach, or who will buy them. EnergyTrend noted that pilot-line testing, process optimization and customer qualification will decide whether CATL meets the 2027 date. "Small-scale production" is not mass production, and CATL has not given a mass-production year in the statement reported here.
