(Yicai Global) July 5 -- Wu Kai, chief scientist at Contemporary Amperex Technology, and his team at the Chinese electric vehicle battery giant have won the European Inventor Award 2023 in a category for non-European candidates due to their achievements in making batteries safer.

Selected from over 600 candidates from around the world, Wu and his team developed a lithium-ion battery with a top cover that acts as a barrier to mitigate fire risks, the European Patent Office wrote in a press release published yesterday.

The chief scientist and his team were able to deliver the solution to a leading car maker in just two and a half years. Wu has been developing batteries at CATL since 2012 and his journey began when BMW, one of the Ningde-based company's customers, asked CATL to minimize the risk of battery failure caused by overcharging.

Before the Tesla supplier, Wu worked for metal technology and energy companies in Dongguan and prior to that, he was a lecturer at Wuhan University of Technology.

Editor: Emmi Laine