Svolt Energy Technology, a Chinese manufacturer of batteries and energy storage systems, is spending 1.25 billion baht to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery factory in Chon Buri to serve Chinese and Japanese EV makers.
The company is also conducting a feasibility study into an EV battery recycling business as demand for eco-friendly cars continues to grow.
Yang Hongxin, chairman and chief executive of Svolt Energy Technology, said the company plans to have two production lines for batteries: one to produce modules for hybrid EVs and the other to make modules and packs for plug-in hybrid EVs and battery EVs.
"The factory is designed to have production capacity of 60,000 sets of module packs a year. We plan to increase the numbers to 118,000 sets in the future, depending on the Thai and Asean market," he said.
Mr Yang expects the construction of the factory to be completed in eight months. The plant should serve customers in the first quarter of next year.
Its battery manufacturing is aimed at serving both Chinese and Japanese EV makers. Initial delivery will be to two Chinese companies, Great Wall Motor and Hozon Auto, which produce EVs under the Neta brand.
"The company is discussing battery sales with Japanese carmakers. They also want to buy our products because the automotive industry is being disrupted by EVs, causing them to shift towards the manufacturing of new-generation cars," Mr Yang said.
Svolt plans to produce batteries for sale domestically and for export to Vietnam and Indonesia.
The company is also in talks with a Thai company for joint investment in an energy storage system business here. The investment plan is expected to be concluded by the third quarter of this year, paving the way for Svolt to launch the products in the fourth quarter.
Svolt also plans to invest in battery recycling in Thailand over the next three years. The company is studying two types of technology. The first one, requiring an investment of around 100 million baht, smashes batteries to extract copper and sodium for reuse, while the other, which needs a 3-3.5 billion baht budget, uses chemicals to separate batteries to make their components usable again as raw materials.