Vingroup begins construction of $174 mln car battery plant

VinES, located in the Vung Ang Economic Zone, will have a capacity of 100,000 battery packs a year in the first phase of and one million in the second.

The plant will be 80 percent robot-operated.

It is part of the conglomerate’s plan to make VinFast a global auto manufacturer of electric vehicles.

"We have been promoting cooperation with many prestigious global partners such as the U.S., Israel, Taiwan and China to research, develop and apply the most advanced battery technologies such as super-fast charging and solid-state battery," the company’s deputy chairman Nguyen Viet Quang said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

VinFast is working with a variety of partners for batteries, including StoreDot, Gotion High-Tech and ProLogium and is also focusing on internal R&D and is establishing research facilities to develop battery and charging technologies, the company has previously said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Last week, Vingroup said it was looking to list in the United States in the second half of next year.