SAIC Motor-CP and MG Sales (Thailand), manufacturer and distributor of MG cars, has announced the opening of its first battery production plant in ASEAN, located at the New Energy Industrial Park in Chon Buri province.
The new plant, named HASCO-CP Battery Shop, is result of a Bt500-million investment. The foundation stone laying ceremony for the 75-rai facility took place in April this year, while construction will be completed in 2024.
According to MG, the battery manufacturing plant is divided into two major areas.
The first one is the battery assembly area which is fully automated through cutting-edge robotic technology, Laser Welding for accuracy and Charge Coupled Device (CCD) to cross-check the quality of battery with its prototype prior to its installation in electric vehicles.
The second area is designated for battery standard testing which involves over 60 processes including Charge & Discharge, Air Leak Test, Insulation Test and Static Test.
MG says that the production line is capable of manufacturing up to 50,000 Cell-To-Pack battery units per year, with the quality equivalent to those produced on a global scale.
Batteries produced from this manufacturing plant will be first installed in MG4 Electric as well as other models in the future. Currently, the factory is in its production preparation process and is expected to officially open in 2024.
Zhao Feng, president of SAIC Motor-CP, said, “The EV battery shop is part of the development plan for the New Energy Industrial Park located within the WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 2 (WHA ESIE 2) in Chonburi province designated for the domestic production of electric vehicles.”
With the additional investment budget of Bt500 million, the factory is designed for the manufacture of Cell-To-Pack (CTP) EV batteries which utilizes the new RUBIK’s CUBE BATTERY technology, he added.
“With the strength and growing opportunity for Thailand’s EV market, SAIC Motor Corp and HASCO-CP realize the potential to become the production hub for electric vehicles for both domestic and international distribution especially among ASEAN countries,” Zhang said.
“Since 2019, MG has penetrated Thailand’s electric vehicle market and today electric vehicles have become highly popular and seen exponential growth as seen from an accumulative EV sale volume of 18,000 units,” he added.
“Not only does MG introduce a wide range of EV models in response to different lifestyles and requirements of all Thais, another significant contributing factor towards the company’s success is that it also pays attention to creating and strengthening EV Ecosystem which caters to long-term use of electric vehicles especially through the investment for the installation of MG SUPER CHARGE, which is now available countrywide,” Zhang said.
Moving forward with its EV roadmap, Zhang said MG has recently taken its EV Ecosystem to the next level through the opening of EV battery assembly plant — a reflection of the company’s commitment in the market.
“MG will also continue the next phase of the development for the NEW ENERGY INDUSTRIAL PARK in order to fulfill the EV Ecosystem from the upstream to downstream operations. The battery production plant is scheduled to complete by the end of 2024,” Zhang concluded.
