CATL began trial battery cell production at its Debrecen plant in Hungary on Sept 22, bringing its first two cell-making lines into operation.
The trial runs will test the equipment and manufacturing processes before series production. CATL has not given a date for that next stage.
The Chinese battery maker received an occupancy permit in August and said it had met the remaining conditions for trial operations under its environmental permit.
That approval followed inspections prompted by earlier deficiencies that had worried local residents.
According to CATL, officials confirmed the identified problems had been resolved. The company said it would monitor environmental conditions and employee health and safety during the trials, and submit the results to the authorities.
Debrecen has already been making battery modules since autumn 2024. CATL puts the total at 537,000, but cell production is a separate step now being tested in the new building.
CATL announced the project in August 2022 as its second European battery plant. Construction of the first cell building began the following summer, with production equipment installed by spring this year.
When the entire site is ready, CATL expects annual capacity to reach 100 gigawatt-hours. It would then be the company’s largest manufacturing base outside China.
CATL intends to use the Hungarian plant to supply European carmakers, although its announcement does not name customers or say when cell deliveries will begin.
