Vingroup Joint Stock Company, Vietnam's largest conglomerate, announced on Sunday that it has begun construction of a battery cell plant worth USD 174 million for its VinFast electric vehicle business, allowing it to control its own battery supply chain.

When gasoline-powered cars bearing its own badge entered the market in 2019, VinFast became the country's first fully local car manufacturer. It is now banking on the American market, where its electric SUVs and a battery leasing vehicle are anticipated to launch next year.

For those unaware, the battery facility, which is Vietnam's first EV battery installation, is situated on an 8-hectare (20-acre) property in the central province of Ha Tinh. The Ha Tinh local government had announced in October this year that the plant was estimated to cost USD 387 million and would be built on a 12.6-hectare property.

Thai Thi Thanh Hai, Vice Chair of Vingroup and Vice Chair of VinFast's board of directors, believes that the decision will facilitate VinFast's supply localization strategy, and the move will also allow the company to control the battery & part supply chain.

As per sources, in the initial phase, the company plans to make 100,000 battery packs per year before increasing production capacity to one million. It did not go into depth about the project's timeline, but according to an October study, the project is expected to be fully operational by 2025.

It is worth mentioning here that VinFast is collaborating with a number of partners, including Gotion High-Tech, StoreDot, and ProLogium for its battery projects. The company is also boosting its internal R&D efforts and building new research centers to develop battery and charging technologies.

Vingroup had announced last week that it plans to list in the United States in the second part of next year.

Source Credit:

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2021-12-12/vietnam-car-company-vingroup-starts-work-on-174-million-ev-battery-plant