Factbox: Plans for electric car battery production in Europe
05/06/2018 07:30
June 5 (Reuters) - China's BYD 1211.HK 002594.SZ is
looking at launching battery production in Europe, the latest
Asian battery maker aiming to make inroads in Europe as Brussels
seek to build a home-grown industry to fuel a surge in electric
car production. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1RI3V2
Europe has only one operating factory producing battery
cells for electric cars - a plant in Britain that produces
batteries for Nissan 7201.T vehicles such as the LEAF.
Below are details of plans to establish electric vehicle
(EV) battery plants in Europe:
NORTHVOLT http://northvolt.com
The Swedish company, headed by a former Tesla TSLA.O
executive, aims to build Europe's biggest lithium-ion battery
factory, producing 32 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery cells a
year by 2023, rivalling Tesla's U.S. "gigafactory".
It has partnered with Siemens SIEGn.DE , ABB ABBN.S and
Volkswagen-owned VOWG_p.DE truckmaker Scania to build the 4
billion euro ($4.7 billion)plant while the European Investment
Bank has provided financial support. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1SW2OY urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1Q25RE
TERRAE https://www.terrae.com
The German-based consortium of 17 companies and research
institutions plans to build two foundries, where lithium-ion
battery cells are custom produced to customers' specifications.
The two factories aim to have a capacity of 34 GWh by 2028.
BYD http://en.byd.com 1211.HK 002594.SZ
Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD is also one of the
world's biggest battery producers with the lowest production
costs in the industry, according to Bernstein Research.
BYD is considering cell production in Europe, an executive
told Reuters, adding it was not clear where it might be located.
BYD has a growing business making electric buses and is also
involved in monorails, solar farms, and energy storage. The
company has two production sites for electric buses in Europe,
in Hungary and France.
The company, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway
Inc BRKa.N , warned in March that Chinese subsidy cuts for
new-energy vehicles could slash its quarterly profit by as much
as 90 percent. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1RA1I5
CATL http://www.catlbattery.com/en
China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL)
300750.SZ , one of the biggest EV battery producers, said in
November it was planning a $2 billion initial public offering to
boost its lithium-ion battery output six-fold to 50 GWh capacity
by 2020. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1NK2QZ
In January last year, CATL bought a 22 percent stake in
Finnish auto supplier Valmet Automotive and has said it plans to
build a factory in Europe, but has not announced details.
Volkswagen and Daimler DAIGn.DE have said they plan to buy
batteries from CATL.
LG CHEM http://www.lgchem.com/global/main 051910.KS
South Korea's LG Chem plans to produce 100,000 EV batteries
per year at a Polish factory due to be completed this year.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1MN024
LG Chem supplies batteries to Volkswagen, General Motors
GM.N and Renault SA RENA.PA .
SAMSUNG SDI http://www.samsungsdi.com 006400.KS
South Korea's Samsung SDI Co plans to open a factory near
Budapest this year which would be able to produce batteries for
50,000 electric vehicles a year.
Samsung SDI, an affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
005930.KS , also produces rechargeable batteries for electronic
devices such as smartphones and energy storage systems.
Samsung SDI, which already has a plant in Austria assembling
battery packs, has supplied batteries to Volkswagen and BMW.
SK INNOVATION http://eng.skinnovation.com/main.asp
096770.KS
South Korea's SK Innovation plans to break ground this year
on a battery plant in Hungary and launch production from 2020,
producing 7.5 GWh of batteries per year. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1NZ6JV
Customers would include Daimler, it said.
SK Innovation started as Korea Oil Corporation and owns
South Korea's largest crude oil refiner. It also has divisions
for chemicals, lubricants, batteries and electronic materials.
GSR CAPITAL http://www.gsrcapital.com/en
Last year, Chinese investment firm GSR Capital bought Nissan
Motor Co's 7201.T electric vehicle battery business -
Automotive Energy Supply Corp - including battery plants in
Japan, the U.S. state of Tennessee and England. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1KV1A1
The UK plant produces 2 GWh of lithium ion batteries per
year for Nissan electric vehicles.
In February, GSR signed a $4.5 billion joint venture deal
with Turkey's Zorlu Holding to build a factory that would launch
production in 2023 for batteries for electric vehicles and
energy storage systems. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1QF0KX
GSR said in March it would invest $500 million in Swedish
electric car maker National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) and
planned to start production of EV batteries at NEVS.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1QW5E6
GSR Capital Chairman Sonny Wu told Reuters the Swedish plant
may launch output in mid- to late-2019 and GSR was also looking
at elsewhere in Europe for additional battery factories.
GS YUASA http://www.gs-yuasa.com/en 6674.T
Japanese battery maker GS Yuasa Corp said in January it
would set up a factory in Hungary that would assemble lithium
ion batteries and would consider producing cells on the site in
the future. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nT9N1OB00R
Last year, the Nikkei business daily reported the company
would begin mass-producing a new lithium-ion battery that would
double the range of electric cars as early as 2020. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1KU0EQ
LISHEN http://en.lishen.com.cn
Chinese battery maker Tianjin Lishen plans to open a sales
office in Germany, its first in Europe, and has held talks with
Volkswagen and Daimler, a source at the company said in April.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1S0203
Lishen's biggest shareholder is China Electronic Technology
Group (CETC), a state-owned firm managed by the central
government, according to its website.
SAFT https://www.saftbatteries.com
France's Saft, owned by energy company Total TOTF.PA
produces a range of batteries, including for back-up power and
industrial applications, but not for electric vehicles.
In February, it created an alliance with Siemans, Solvay
SOLB.BR and Manz M5ZG.DE to develop a new generation of
batteries. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1QB6UC
The group will focus on advanced high-density lithium-ion
and solid-state technology, targeting the market for electric
vehicles, railway, marine sectors, among others.
CONTINENTAL https://www.continental-automotive.com CONG.DE
German auto parts and tyre maker Continental AG formed a
joint venture in March with China's CITC Ltd to produce
so-called "mild" hybrid batteries in China. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1QP2TP
Continental also said it was considering making EV batteries
using solid-state technology, but for now was holding out for
more advances to be made in the field.
($1 = 0.8544 euros)
(Reporting by Eric Onstad in London, Esha Vaish in Stockholm,
Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt and Bate Felix in Paris; editing
by David Clarke)
((eric.onstad@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7093; Twitter https://twitter.com/reutersEricO;
Reuters Messaging: eric.onstad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))