CATL's Bedrock chassis system could see EVs get to market faster in China

PARIS: Chinese battery giant CATL will soon be offering carmakers a turnkey platform with chassis and integrated battery as the basis for new models. The solution is designed to be particularly safe and robust, and resistant to impact and fire.

CATL recently unveiled Bedrock, a complete "skateboard chassis" dedicated to electric vehicles, centered around a battery and adaptable to any motor size, all designed to optimise the production of new models.

This combination of technologies stands out for its enhanced safety, since the chassis is capable of absorbing energy in the event of a severe impact, for instance in a collision.

According to CATL, it can withstand frontal impacts at 120kph without catching fire or, of course, exploding. In terms of performance, it has a range of up to 800km. These figures set a new safety benchmark for all manufacturers wishing to launch new models.

Through this innovation, CATL aims to simplify the design of future electric vehicles and thus become an even more essential player in automobile development in China.

For automakers, adopting this platform could save them considerable time and money.

There's no longer any need to design a new chassis while thinking about how to integrate the battery.

As a result, the development cycle for a new model could potentially be reduced from several years to just one year - or even less.

This compressed development time could enable manufacturers to be more agile in adapting quickly to market demands, while reducing costs by cutting down research and development spending.

The first production model to benefit from this will come this year from Avatr, a brand launched by Changan automotive group, Huawei and CATL.