(Yicai Global) Feb. 14 -- Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, or CATL, is looking to invest EUR240 million (USD271 million) to build the world's largest electric car battery plant in Germany.

The Fujian province-based firm wants to supercharge its existing plans for a factory in Erfurt, China's state-backed Global Times reported today, citing President for Europe Matthias Zentgraf as saying at a recent industry conference. The move should add 600 new jobs in the city, he added.

CATL originally proposed the 14 gigawatt-hour plant in summer 2017, but now plans to sextuple its annualized run rate. That would dwarf Tesla's 20 gigawatt-hour Gigafactory in Nevada, currently the planet's largest by output.

CATL is no stranger to Deutschland, it already has multi-billion dollar deals to supply BMW and Daimler with vast quantities of electric vehicle cells, as well as agreements with other European carmakers PSA Group, Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover.

More orders are coming in, Zentgraf added, saying the firm hopes to stay abreast of its competition in Europe, which asides from Tesla includes South Korea's SK Innovation, which is in talks with Volkswagen to set up a factory on the continent.

Editor: James Boynton