The construction on the €100 million (US$111m) plant in the Danube Valley is expected to begin in the first half of next year, with the first batteries ready for distribution around 18 months later.
The plant will be financed in part by Slovakia-based InoBat’s shareholders and strategic partners and in part through debt instruments, the company said on 26 July.
A company spokesperson was unable to tell BEST Battery Briefing what chemistry the companies would be producing. She said: “In general, it will be a combination of available materials that provides the best possible cost, safety, reliability, and performance in the time frame available. The precise chemical composition will be determined by Wildcat and InoBat, based on the client needs, utilising Wildcat’s high throughput platform.”
Under the terms of the deal, Wildcat will combine its R&D platform in a full-scale production line to allow the development of proprietary batteries in close cooperation with central and eastern Europe electric vehicle manufacturers.
The companies’ long-term goal is to upscale the plant to 10GWh using a vertically integrated supply chain from R&D to production, although when this happens will depend on the timing of funds as well as on the strategy as such, said a spokesperson.
InoBat said it aims to serve the European market with proprietary solutions— in response to the European Commission’s goal of reaching technological and industrial autonomy in this field.
Marian Bocek, InoBat’s co-founder and executive chairman said: “Wildcat’s proprietary technology has the potential to revolutionise the entire European electric vehicle batteries industry.”
Both, the InoBat and Wildcat teams are currently in talks with the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is known for having backed similar projects in the past year.
Vazil Hudák, EIB vice-president, said: “European Investment Bank, the financial arm of the European Union, is working closely with the European Commission to support the development of a European battery ecosystem.”
“It is important to bring the best global battery technologies to Europe and nurture them further in accordance with European standards.
