Robin Zeng |CEO @ CATL: "Sodium-ion batteries will initially replace 20%-30% of lithium iron phosphate batteries."

Recently, CATL CEO Robin Zeng appeared on the podcast of Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. They discussed innovation, competition, and the global distribution of talent in the battery technology field. Zeng Yuqun attributed CATL's success to its ability to innovate and expressed no concern over imitators. He believes that China leads the world in battery technology, largely due to the emphasis on electrochemical research in higher education.

They also discussed CATL's market position, future technologies such as sodium-ion batteries, and how technological innovation can drive sustainable development. Robin Zeng pointed out three major challenges faced by Europe's battery manufacturing industry: deficiencies in design, process flow, and equipment. He highlighted the difficulties in solid-state battery interface technology and the potential applications of sodium-ion batteries in small vehicles. Despite the challenges, he believes that innovation in the battery industry is accelerating.

At the end of the interview, Robin shared his journey from rural China to success, admitting: "I don’t want to be the richest person—it doesn’t mean much to me."

Key points of the interview as below:

1. The most important thing is the right product. Without a doubt, the market needs a large number of the right products to achieve stability. So, the right product requires the right technology.
2. I don't consider them competitors. We welcome more people joining this journey, but imitators cannot truly satisfy consumers in terms of products and good skills. Only competition in innovation can help this industry develop healthily in the future.
3. Many universities in China are still researching electrochemistry, and they are finding more areas to study in electronic chemistry. That’s why we have more talents than Germany and USA.
4. The CEOs of European battery manufacturers cannot produce good battery. First, their designs are wrong. Second, their process flows are wrong. Third, their equipment is wrong.
5. The most fundamental barrier still exists. It’s still the interface—the interface between solid and solid. However, we have already developed the second generation of sodium-ion batteries, and compared to the first generation, the performance of these batteries is very good. Therefore, we believe that initially, in small vehicles with shorter driving ranges, sodium-ion batteries can at least replace 20% to 30% of the range.
6. Only technology experts who understand future application trends will know what kind of mining industry is a good investment. This might be our advantage.
7. First is my philosophy. I don’t want to be the richest person—it doesn’t mean much to me. Second, I need to improve myself and make my body stronger. Otherwise, I’ll always feel exhausted, and you won’t find passion, which is very important.

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