Chinese suppliers for Li-ion EV power batteries have been stepping up efforts to expand their manufacturing operations outside Mainland China. Among them, SVOLT is now making a huge push into Europe and could build as many as five production plants across the region. According to the latest reporting by Bloomberg, SVOT is now seeking suitable locations in the western, northern, and eastern portions of the European continent for its new production plants. The largest of these plants could reach an annual production capacity of 20GWh.
Kai-Uwe Wollenhaupt, head of SVOLT’s European business unit, recently said that his company aims to have at least 50GWh of its entire annual production capacity be based in Europe before the end of 2023. Bloomberg also pointed out that SVOLT is currently negotiating supply agreements with several European carmakers.
Great Wall Motor established SVOLT as a business unit in 2016 to develop EV power batteries. Then, in 2018, SVOT spun off from its parent and became an independently operating entity. SVOLT focuses on the development, manufacturing, and sales of EV power batteries and their components. Its main offerings include battery cells, battery modules, and battery packs.
Regarding overseas expansion activities, SVOLT landed its first European manufacturing operation in Heusweiler, a municipality in Germany’s Saarland, in November 2020. The plant in Heusweiler is still in the development and construction phase, and it will be used to primarily manufacture packs and modules. Later, in September 2022, SVOLT announced that its second European manufacturing operation will be established in the German state of Brandenburg.
The new plant in Brandenburg will manufacture battery cells that will then be shipped to EV production plants in Saarland for vehicle integration. SVOLT said the plants in Germany have a significant geographical advantage. By serving its European clients in a timely manner, SVOLT will be able to rapidly expand and ramp up its production capacity in the region.
In December 2022, a ceremony was held to mark the signing of the lease for the module and pack plant in Saarland. The lease agreement was between SVOLT Europe and Projektgesellschaft Batteriefabrik Heusweiler (PBH). The regional government will be in charge of the construction of the facilities at the site, while SVOLT will be leasing the site for 15 years. Hence, SVOLT’s first European manufacturing operation has entered a new chapter in its development, and the related progress will become more tangible in the future.
This article is a translation of a Chinese article posted by TrendForce. It contains information that is either sourced from other news outlets or accessible in the public domain. Some Chinese names are transcribed into English using Hanyu Pinyin.