Chinese electric vehicle battery maker Gotion High Tech said on TahongThursday that the first locally-made battery pack has rolled off assembly lines in the facility it partners on with state-owned energy giant PTT in Thailand’s Rayong province. The news marks the beginning of local manufacturing in Southeast Asia’s second biggest economy for the Volkswagen-backed battery supplier, which is set to begin supplying the product to Chinese EV startup Hozon Auto in the first quarter of 2024. The 38 kilowatt-hour (kWh), relatively inexpensive lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery provides an EV with a driving range of around 400 kilometers (249 miles) and the joint plant has an initial capacity for making two gigawatt-hours (GWh) worth of batteries each year. Larger rival CATL also said in June that it will license its technologies to PTT-affiliated Arun Plus to establish a battery production base in the country. EVE, whose clients include BMW and Mercedes-Benz, in July announced plans to jointly build a six GWh battery plant with local renewable energy startup Energy Absolute. [Gotion announcement, in Chinese]
