CarbonScape has entered a strategic investment and partnership with CATL, the world’s largest EV and energy storage battery manufacturer. The New Zealand company develops forestry-derived, battery-grade graphite.
The deal gives CATL and co-investor Lochpine Capital a combined 20 percent stake in CarbonScape, along with board representation. It pairs CarbonScape’s technology with CATL’s manufacturing experience to help push the material toward large-scale production.
CarbonScape’s process converts forestry byproducts, including woodchips and sawdust, into battery-grade graphite. The company says its biographite matches the performance of synthetic material while carrying a carbon-negative lifecycle footprint.
Graphite is the largest raw material by weight in a lithium-ion battery. A typical EV contains roughly 50 to 100 kilograms of it, more than its lithium, nickel, and cobalt combined. Around 95 percent of the world’s battery-grade graphite is processed in China, and more than 75 percent used in batteries today is synthetic, made from oil-based feedstocks.
The partnership includes two tracks. CarbonScape and CATL will validate the technology at demonstration scale inside CATL facilities. CATL and Lochpine will also become strategic shareholders, with incentives tied to successful commercial deployment.
Ivan Williams, CEO of CarbonScape, said the deal provides more than funding. He pointed to CATL’s manufacturing expertise, global reach, and a clearer path toward large-scale deployment. The companies aim to bring commercial biographite production online by the end of the decade.
Oscar Luo of CATL called CarbonScape’s approach a breakthrough in material science. Vincent Ledoux-Pedailles, CarbonScape’s chief commercial officer, described graphite as an overlooked part of the battery supply chain.
Demand for battery-grade graphite is expected to grow six to 30 times by 2040. CarbonScape currently runs a pilot plant in New Zealand and is scaling the technology ahead of potential deployment in Europe and beyond.
