Panasonic joins EV battery combat in China with LG Chemical and Samsung SDI

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai Dec 30) - Panasonic has invested 50 billion yen (about 412 million US dollars) to build a lithium battery plant in China, where LG Chemical and Samsung SDI have finished constructing their EV battery. Upon the landing of the Japanese enterprise, the Chinese EV battery market has become a fierce playing ground of three parties which are Chinese, Japanese and South Korea enterprises.

Located in Dalian, China, the Panasonic’s new plant manufacturing engine lithium battery will be put into production in 2017. The prismatic batteries it will produce are expected annually to supply 200,000 alternative energy vehicles including both pure EV and Plug-in Hybrid EVs.

On the other hand, LG Chemical and Samsung SDI respectively raking third and sixth worldwide in manufacturing lithium battery have already initiated their strategic plans in the country. Earlier on October 22, Samsung SDI accomplished its construction of its new plant in Xi’an, which is planned to produce high-performance engine battery of pure EV standard annually of 40,000 units. Then, on October 27, LG Chemical finished building its battery plant in Nanjing. According to LG Chemical’s initial plan, the plant will rank forward among Chinese engine battery plants with a capacity of 10,000 units battery for alternative energy vehicles.

These large influxes of foreign venture in Chinese engine battery market have on one hand given rise to the momentum in Chinese lithium battery industry chain and even alternative energy vehicle industry chain, and on the other hand have created downward pressure on the domestic lithium battery enterprises of China.

Statistics from Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China has revealed that accumulated alternative energy vehicles production of China from January to November this year has quadrupled from a year earlier to 279,200 units.