Kia Corp. has decided to equip its compact electric SUV EV5 for the domestic market, which is to be released in September, with a CATL battery…On July 17, battery industry sources reported that Kia had also considered BYD’s lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery during the recent selection process for the domestic version of the EV5. The Chinese-market EV5 is equipped with BYD’s LFP battery. As the EV5 targets the value-for-money segment, Kia tested the more cost-effective BYD battery but ultimately deemed it unsuitable for the domestic market…Instead, Kia selected Chinese CATL’s ternary chemistry nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) battery. Although CATL’s battery is more expensive than BYD’s, it is cheaper than those from South Korea’s top three battery makers and is known to deliver robust performance…This marks the fourth instance of Kia adopting CATL’s NCM batteries, following the Niro EV, Ray EV, and PV5. Hyundai Motor Co. also previously used CATL’s NCM battery in the Kona EV. With CATL now supplying batteries for the EV5, experts suggest that future models may increasingly feature Chinese-made batteries.

China's cabinet on Wednesday pledged to regulate what it called "irrational" competition in the country's electric vehicle industry, vowing to strengthen cost investigation and price monitoring, according to state broadcaster CCTV…The cabinet meeting, presided by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, was held as a two-year price war in the world's largest auto market only intensifies…Concerns about oversupply persist, with new vehicles being shipped overseas as "used" since 2019, according to a Reuters report in late June.