joint venture

Romeo Power finds battery packs partner in BorgWarner

US-based automotive industry components and parts supplier BorgWarner is to enter the batteries market under a joint venture with California energy storage start-up Romeo Power.

BorgWarner will be the majority partner in the 60-40 joint venture— also taking a 20% equity stake in Romeo and two seats on that company’s board.

Romeo Power

BorgWarner

Battery Packs

joint venture

hybrid and electric vehicles

UK and China launch virtual energy research centre

Professor Nigel Brandon, Dean of Engineering at ICL (left) & Qikun Xue, VP for Research at Tsinghua

Imperial College London (ICL) and Tsinghua University are launching a virtual centre to collaborate on pioneering research into advanced energy systems.

The universities have agreed to jointly study “next-generation technologies and intelligent control strategies” towards low-carbon power and energy systems.

The centre will be the latest collaboration between the two universities, which have previously worked together on research projects including ‘the role of energy storage in enhancing operation and stability performance of sustainable power systems’.

Imperial College London

Tsinghua University

lithium-ion batteries

Toyota and Panasonic agree batteries joint venture

Japanese compatriots Panasonic and Toshiba have concluded contracts toward setting up a joint venture (JV) company related to the automotive prismatic battery business.

The JV— which is subject to approval by anti-trust chiefs— will cover “research, development, production, engineering, manufacturing, procurement, order receipt, and management”.

Toyota will contribute equipment and personnel in the areas of development and production engineering related to battery cells, while Panasonic will contribute equipment and personnel to support activities including production, development, engineering and manufacturing (at its plants in Japan and Dalian, China).

Mergers & Acquisitions

joint venture

battery manufacturing

Exide Industries-Leclanché in Li joint venture for India

India lead-acid manufacturer Exide Industries is teaming up with Swiss battery storage firm Leclanché in a new lithium joint venture targeting the Indian market.

The partnership will focus on building lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), stationary energy storage systems and “speciality storage markets”.

Exide Industries

Leclanché

joint venture

lithium-ion batteries

electric vehicles

India

Leclanché ‘set for India joint venture’

Swiss battery maker Leclanché said it is close to announcing a joint venture agreement that would give it a “strong foothold” in India.

Leclanché is staying tight-lipped about details, but said it is at an “advanced stage” of sealing a deal to put the company at the heart of “one of the potentially largest electric vehicles markets in the world”.

German-Chinese joint venture for hybrid batteries

German automotive manufacturer Continental has confirmed plans to launch a battery production joint venture with China’s Sichuan Chengfei Integration Technology (CITC).

Continental said the partnership is expected to start producing 48-volt mild hybrid lithium-ion battery systems in China, by the middle of this year, targeting the European, North American and Asian electric vehicle markets.

lithium-ion batteries

Chinese-Israeli venture for aluminium-air batteries

Israeli metal–air batteries company Phinergy plans to team up with Chinese partners to invest in the development of aluminium-air battery systems in China.

Chinese aluminium products manufacturer Yunnan Aluminium said it had formed a joint venture company with Phinergy and China’s Shanghai Zuoyong New Energy Technology for the CNY813.8 million ($128.6m) project.

Shanghai Zuoyong New Energy Technology

aluminium-air battery

joint venture

Leoch-DBS Energy venture targets UK battery business

Hong Kong-listed battery giant Leoch International Technology has invested in UK-based battery distributor DBS Energy to target sales to the country’s industrial market.

Leoch said the companies had formed a joint venture— DBS Leoch— to “significantly grow its business and become one of the leading suppliers of batteries” to UK industry.

Leoch International Technology

South Korea-China deal to ease battery tension?

Chinese and South Korean businesses have formed two new joint ventures to produce lithium-ion battery materials from bases in China.

The move follows months of claims and counter claims over China’s alleged “blocking” of South Korean batteries in a heated trade spat.

Posco

Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt

joint venture

china

south korea

lithium-ion batteries

precursors

cathodes

German-Chinese JV on lithium-ion technology

Germany-Chinese JV on lithium-ion technology

The German enterprise ElringKlinger (EK) has signed a framework agreement on a joint venture (JV) for lithium-ion battery technology with Sichuan Chengfei Integration Technology Co Ltd (CITC) from China.

The JV will focus on the development, production, and distribution of lithium-ion battery modules for the global automotive market in Asia, Europe, and the United States.

German

ElringKlinger

china

Sichuan Chengfei Integration Technology

joint venture

lithium-ion batteries