Chinese EV Battery Giant CATL to Set Up Factory in Hungary
August 12 2022 - 6:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Rachel Liang
China's biggest electric-car battery maker said Friday that it
plans to build a second battery factory in Europe, as the company
doubles down overseas to gain ground in the booming
electric-vehicle market.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. will invest up to 7.34
billion euros ($7.58 billion) in the factory in Hungary, the
company said in a filing.
The plant is designed to have a capacity of 100 gigawatt hours,
seven times that of its first plant in Germany, CATL said.
Located in central Europe, the new plant would enhance CATL's
capability to supply European car makers such as Mercedes-Benz
Group AG, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Stellantis N.V. and
Volkswagen AG, CATL said in a separate statement.
The company plans to start building the plant this year and
expects to complete the project in 64 months, it said.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz said Friday that it is expanding its
supply agreement with CATL.
The German car maker said the battery supplier's new factory in
Hungary will supply battery cells for next-generation Mercedes-Benz
models. The agreement builds on a partnership first announced in
2020, Mercedes-Benz said.
European car makers have stepped up efforts over the past two
years to shift to electric models, in order to meet tougher
restrictions in the region on greenhouse-gas emissions. Incentives
have also driven the industry to make more electric cars and drive
consumer demand.
Last year, EV sales in Europe rose 65% from a year ago to 2.3
million vehicles, according to the International Energy Agency.
In 2018, CATL invested around $1.9 billion to build its first
overseas plant in Germany. The company in April received government
approval for manufacturing there after a year's delay caused by the
Covid-19 pandemic. It plans to roll out batteries from the German
plant by the end of this year.
Write to Rachel Liang at rachel.liang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 12, 2022 06:44 ET (10:44 GMT)
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