electric vehicle

Battery maker Samsung SDI has begun construction of its lithium-ion plant in Hungary to supply the European electric vehicle market.

The South Korean firm new facility in Hungary will enable it to establish a triangular production structure along with existing plants in Ulsan, Korea and Xian, China.

China has announced it will only give state subsidies to Electric Vehicle battery makers who qualify for listing in a new directory.

Only firms that meet certain criteria will be included in the directory, which will go live in July 2017.

The criteria include agreeing to undergo extended inspections in which tests could be carried out on batteries and systems to ensure they and the facility are “consistent with the vehicle battery industry standard conditions... in addition to the scale of production and other aspects of the requirements” that were released in 2015.

German OEM Daimler is to invest around €500million ($542,890) to build a lithium-ion battery pack manufacturing plant as it expands its electric and hybrid vehicles range.

Using cells from LG Chem and SK Innovations, among others, the move will ‘significantly expand’ the production capacities of Daimler subsidary Deutsche Accumotive.

Hong Kong rechargeable battery firm BYD has hired a new director as it gears up to increase its electric vehicle operations in the US.

Eva Lerner-Lam was named director of eastern US business to build up the operations of the New York-based office and drive regional sales of BYD’s entire line-up of electric vehicles.

The full portfolio of EVs include, electric buses and coaches, long-range electric taxis, eTrucks and battery-electric forklifts.

Lerner-Lamb said: “The time has come for electric vehicles and BYD is ready to meet the growing demand.

“It’s a very exciting opportunity to take technology that was developed in China—and leveraged and matured in large scale there—and adapt them to American standards, lifestyles and infrastructures.”

Together with Assistant General Manager Carlos Antunes, Lerner-Lam will continue BYD’s international efforts to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure, open regional facilities and plants and deliver green-tech products like energy storage stations.

She said: “The game-changing technology is already here. It just needs to be applied and distributed.”