Ener1 to finalize battery venture with Wanxiang this year
Ener1 Inc. expects to complete an agreement this year with the electric-vehicle division of Wanxiang Group Co. for a joint venture that will produce battery systems in China.
Naoki Ota, Ener1's chief technology officer, said the New York-based company's subsidiary, EnerDel, will provide lithium-ion battery technology for the venture with Wanxiang EV Co.
In May, Ener1 said the two companies will make batteries for heavy-duty and passenger vehicles in China. No terms were disclosed.
The venture will build a plant in China that will manufacture everything from electrodes and cells to power packs. The China plant initially will produce battery packs for up to 20,000 vehicles a year.
By the end of 2011, EnerDel will have the global capacity to produce batteries for 60,000 electric vehicles annually.
Wanxiang is based in Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province. Its U.S. subsidiary, Wanxiang America Corp., has bought stakes in more than 20 U.S. suppliers since the mid-1990s.
Wanxiang America owns 24 U.S. facilities and had 2009 sales of $1.3 billion.
