CATL opens a direct sales store for battery cells — no distributor required
CATL, the company behind roughly 30% of the world's energy storage batteries, launched an online direct-sales platform on June 26 called CATL Mall. For the first time, small and medium-sized installers can order lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells straight from the manufacturer — no distributor, no bulk contract, no negotiation with a sales rep who never calls back.
The store
Three LFP cell models are available now on catlqbj.com: 100Ah, 280Ah, and 314Ah — the workhorses of residential and small commercial battery systems. A 587Ah high-capacity cell appears in the catalog but is not yet orderable. The minimum order is three boxes, per CarNewsChina, which is about as close to retail as it gets in this industry. Previously, small integrators either had to go through intermediaries — with all the markups that entails — or simply couldn't get CATL cells at all, because priority always went to Tesla, large automakers, and utility-scale buyers.
Why it matters outside China
CATL holds a 30.4% share of the global energy storage battery market and has ranked first for five consecutive years. That scale means its pricing sets a de facto floor for the industry. By going direct, the company removes a layer of intermediary markup that has consistently squeezed margins for smaller installers building home battery systems and small commercial projects.
For UK and US installers, the practical question is availability. CATL Mall launched with a clear China focus, and pricing has not been disclosed publicly. A rollout timeline for Europe or North America has not been announced. But the move signals an intent to compete at the smaller end of the market — a segment where Tesla's Powerwall ecosystem has so far had relatively little pressure from the cell-supply side.
What to watch
The 587Ah cell, listed but unavailable, hints at where CATL is heading: higher-density, lower-cost-per-kWh options that would make even small projects more financially attractive. Pricing transparency — the one thing distributors have never offered — is the other variable that will determine how disruptive CATL Mall actually becomes once it opens beyond China.