Powered by a massive 7,500 kilowatt-hour battery pack from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s No. 1 battery manufacturer for electric vehicles, the train will enter commercial operation from April. It will mainly serve sightseeing tourists.
With a length of 100 meters and a width of 16, the Yangtze River Three Gorges 1 can carry up to 1,300 passengers. It can travel about 100km per charge, equivalent to saving 530 tons of conventional fuel. The ship will become the starting point for the battery-powered water vehicle industry in China. Charging stations will also be built along the riverbank to meet the needs of electric trains.
“The train runs very smoothly, you feel like you are gliding on flat ground,” Cheng Lu, a passenger on the train, told China Daily on March 30.
Chen Guohai, the ship’s captain, said that the entire operating system is controlled by a computer and that is what sets it apart from other ships.
“In the past, I had to use my experience to determine where the ship was in trouble. Now everything is monitored by the computer. Power consumption and battery life are also compared by the system. with previous data and with fully automatic adjustment,” said Mr. Chen.
The introduction of Yangtze River Three Gorges 1 helps Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) continues to affirm its position in the global battery industry. This business has risen to dominate the global electric vehicle battery industry after only 10 years of operation. It plays an important role in the high-tech supply autonomy strategy that China pursues.
CATL’s success also makes its founder, Mr. Robin Zeng, one of the richest people in the region with a fortune of about $60 billion. Leadership acumen is arguably the key behind CATL’s success, helping it to outpace Western rivals in this key industry.
Mr. Zeng has 10 years of experience in the battery industry and founded a company specializing in supplying lithium batteries for mobile phones, camcorders and other portable electronic devices in 1999. The company was sold in 2005. for US$100 million to Japan’s TDK electronics group.
In 2009, as China promoted electric vehicle development with generous subsidies, a group of Chinese investors led by Mr. Zeng acquired 85% of TDK’s electric car business. . They developed it into a battery company called Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) and supplied the product to BMW.
As China pushes ahead with its plans to strengthen its domestic manufacturing capabilities, the battery and electric vehicle industries are set in motion. China’s electric vehicle market boomed and quickly surpassed the US in 2015. In addition to the market’s potential, incentives and subsidies also play an important role in making CATL the world’s largest battery company. .
In addition, China also requires electric vehicle manufacturers to use CATL batteries to install vehicles operating in China.
Not stopping there, the encroachment into the field of waterway transport opens up a greater potential for CATL that the Yangtze River Three Gorges 1 is typical.