BYD to make EV batteries for Changan
BYD Co., which has built batteries only for its electrified-vehicle lineup, is moving to supply batteries to external customers.
The private company partly owned by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett signed an agreement last week with Changan Automobile Co. to produce EV batteries for the state-owned carmaker.
Under the deal, the batteries will be built at a joint venture to be established between BYD and Changan in the southwest China municipality of Chongqing, where Changan is based.
The joint venture will produce 5 to 6 gigawatt-hour batteries initially after production starts. Annual battery capacity will be expanded to 10 GWh in the second phase.
BYD and Changan did not specify when construction on the new battery plant would begin and be completed.
It addition to Changan, BYD said it plans to produce and supply EV batteries to international automakers and other domestic Chinese carmakers.
BYD opened a lithium battery plant last month in the northwest China province of Qinghai. The factory, which can produce 24 gigawatt-hours of batteries a year at full capacity, will increase the company’s total battery production capacity to 60 GWh by 2020.
BYD, based in Shenzhen and listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, is China’s largest electrified vehicle maker.
In the first six months of this year, it delivered around 220,900 gasoline and electrified vehicles, a jump of 21 percent from the same period last year. The number includes 71,270 plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
BYD is the second largest EV battery maker in China after Contemporary Amperex Technology.
Under the deal, the batteries will be built at a joint venture to be established between BYD and Changan in the southwest China municipality of Chongqing, where Changan is based.
The joint venture will produce 5 to 6 gigawatt-hour batteries initially after production starts. Annual battery capacity will be expanded to 10 GWh in the second phase.
BYD and Changan did not specify when construction on the new battery plant would begin and be completed.
It addition to Changan, BYD said it plans to produce and supply EV batteries to international automakers and other domestic Chinese carmakers.
BYD opened a lithium battery plant last month in the northwest China province of Qinghai. The factory, which can produce 24 gigawatt-hours of batteries a year at full capacity, will increase the company’s total battery production capacity to 60 GWh by 2020.
BYD, based in Shenzhen and listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, is China’s largest electrified vehicle maker.
In the first six months of this year, it delivered around 220,900 gasoline and electrified vehicles, a jump of 21 percent from the same period last year. The number includes 71,270 plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
BYD is the second largest EV battery maker in China after Contemporary Amperex Technology.
