FAW-FinDreams, a battery joint venture between BYD's battery-manufacturing unit FinDreams and FAW, saw its first battery pack roll off the assembly line at its Changchun-based plant in China, according to a news report published by CnEVPost on July 24.
The report stated that FAW-FinDreams celebrated the production of its first battery pack with a ceremony July 21, marking a milestone, which will be followed with tuning of the production line and laying down the foundation for commencement of mass production in September.
The said battery-manufacturing plant, which is located in Changchun, Jilin province, northeast China, saw construction work begin in early 2022.
FAW-FinDreams plans to invest a total of 13.5 billion yuan (about $1.87 billion) on the said gigafactory, which is designed to have a peak production capacity of 45 GWh. The plant will be spread across an area of 800,000 square meters, as per the previous company announcement.
Moreover, the company estimates that its planned capacity of 45 GWh will be able to produce batteries for up to 1 million electric vehicles and is also expected to realize an output value of more than 20 billion yuan.
Significance: In July 2021, the Changchun Municipal Government, China FAW and BYD had signed an investment and cooperation agreement for the said gigafactory project. BYD and FAW own a stake of 51% and 49% respectively in their battery JV company FAW-FinDreams. The JV’s business scope includes the development, production, sales and recycling of power and energy-storage batteries.
According to the news report, FAW-FinDreams aims to create a strategic production base for EV batteries in China’s northeast region.
Citing data from the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA), the report mentioned that in June, China's battery-production capacity stood at 32.9 GWh, up 21.8% year over year and up 16.5% from May. While BYD's battery capacity in June stood at 9.01 GWh, CATL's battery capacity during the month was at 14.85 GWh.
