Samsung SDI, South Korea's leading producer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, said it would invest $0. 358 billion to set up a battery plant in Hungary to supply the European auto industry.
The company, which already operates factories in China and South Korea, said its plant will open near Budapest in the second half of 2018 and can make batteries for about 50,000 cars a year.
BMW, a German carmaker, is one of its customers;
The BMW i3 electric vehicle uses Samsung batteries.
On June, Bloomberg reported that Samsung SDI was discussing supplying batteries to Tesla Motors, which is building its own battery plant in Nevada with Japanese supplier Panasonic.
Samsung SDI said in a statement that the factory will "help us save logistics costs and respond quickly to the needs of our customers as European companies have manufacturing bases around Hungary . ".
The company is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. (SSNLF).
On April, according to Reuters, LG Chem plans to set up a battery plant in Poland with a battery capacity of about 229,000 knots per year. -
This will make it the second largest LG battery factory after installation in China.
After the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal, European automakers are ready to phase out some diesel models in the coming years and increase the production of electric vehicles, which will require more battery manufacturing capacity in the EU.
Volkswagen is one of the car manufacturers eager to develop new electric vehicle models.
While electric vehicles do not sell well in North America, sales have increased in Europe and even in China. Government subsidies to manufacturers will expire and will soon be replaced by rules requiring automakers to make electric cars or buy carbon credits.
Global electric vehicle sales have been accelerating in 2016.
Global electric vehicle sales will reach 800,000 vehicles this year, accounting for about 1% of the global market share.
China's electric vehicle sales are about one, leading the world.
5% of the auto market.
This year, the world's leading electric vehicle manufacturer is BYD, a Chinese automobile manufacturer (BYDDF)
It also has built-in rechargeable batteries and phone components.
Second in the ranking is Nissan Motor (NSANY)
Maker of leaves