According to sources inside Xiaomi, the EV division chose CALB and CATL for its main and secondary battery suppliers, respectively.
The company was forced to go with CATL as its main supplier since the two battery manufacturers had a patent dispute in court and CALB was unable to offer some of its cells until that is resolved.
After the court’s ruling on August 3, CATL was stripped of its patents and CALB was free to sell the batteries in question. CATL’s batteries reportedly start at RMB 80,000 (€10,300) and in Xiaomi’s case, that is about 50% of the car’s BoM.
This is crucial for Xiaomi’s success as the company operates at a very thin margin of just 1% (similar to its smartphone business in the past) and plans to make money from its software products and services.
