CATL a Tesla supplier, is looking for locations for a dollar 5 billion battery plant.

According to persons familiar with the situation, the corporation plans to establish a factory capable of generating up to 80 gigawatt-hours of batteries per year.

According to the persons who wanted not to be identified because they were revealing private information, the facility might potentially employ up to 10,000 people.

CATL executives travelled to Mexico earlier this month for meetings, according to the sources. The corporation is also looking for locations in the United States and Canada, but is concerned about labour availability and other trade challenges. CATL's North American expansion, projected investment, and site inspection were all refused by a spokesman in China.

CATL is riding a surge in demand for electric vehicles, fueled by China's strategic push into the market. Countries are working to decrease carbon emissions, and customers are embracing cleaner cars. The company, which completed an initial public offering in 2018, controls nearly a third of the worldwide electric vehicle battery industry.

CATL, based in Ningde, Fujian, will need a manufacturing presence in North America to avoid hefty trade taxes while supplying Tesla and other automakers. While investing substantially in research and development, the business has exploited its huge scale in China, which has the world's biggest cell production and metal refining capacity, to cut costs for consumers around the world.

An increased presence in North America could agitate US politicians who want to encourage domestic suppliers. President Joe Biden is devoting billions to develop the United States' battery supply chain and wean the auto sector off its dependency on China, but these initiatives will take years to bear fruit.

Global automakers such as Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen AG are electrifying their vehicle ranges, resulting in a surge in battery demand. Prices of metals like nickel, cobalt, and lithium have soared as a result of carmakers' production plans, forcing Tesla to announce last October that it would transition to lithium iron phosphate batteries for short-range vehicles to alleviate pricing concerns.