Vietnam builds $130M EV battery plant with Chinese partner

Vietnamese automaker Kim Long Motor, together with a Chinese industrial partner, plans to build an EV battery plant worth around $130 million in central Vietnam, according to a Reuters report citing company statements. The new production facility will initially cover approximately 4.4 hectares and achieve an annual capacity of about 3 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Kim Long Motor will finance the project, while the Chinese partner provides technological support and know-how. A later expansion phase envisions enlarging the plant to up to 10 hectares and doubling the capacity to 6 GWh per year. The initial production focus will be on batteries for electric commercial vehicles, including buses, trucks, and minibuses, with plans to later manufacture batteries for electric passenger cars. The aim is to strengthen local value creation in e-mobility and serve the growing demand in the Vietnamese market. With this project, Vietnam seeks to further solidify its role as an emerging EV manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia and reduce dependence on imported batteries, while the investment highlights the increasing industrial cooperation between Vietnamese and Chinese companies in the field of electric mobility