VinFast’s energy division breaks ground on 5 GWh/year battery factory

Energy solutions division VinES – a member of Vingroup alongside VinFast – and Gotion Inc have broken ground on a 34.5 acre LFP battery factory designed with an annual capacity of 5 GWh. That equates to roughly 30 million battery cells per year to support future VinFast EVs.

VinES Energy Solutions is the R&D division of Vingroup in Vietnam, focused specifically on energy storage applications and the manufacturing of battery technologies. At the speed that parent company VinGroup moves, it should come as no surprise that VinES was only founded in August of 2021.

Despite its infancy, the joint stock company looks to support Vingroup’s EV manufacturing division VinFast, by manufacturing its own lithium-ion and LFP battery cells in Vietnam. According to today’s news, it will do so with the help of Gotion Inc., a subsidiary of R&D and energy solutions provider Gotion High-Tech Co., Ltd.

VinES, Gotion’s battery joint venture will support VinFast EVs

Both companies shared images and statements in a press release this morning following a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future battery factory in Ha Tinh, Vietnam. Both VinES and Gotion combined for an overall investment of $275 million to erect a 34.5 acre facility to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells used for VinFast EV modules and energy storage solutions.

The upcoming facility will join a 20 acre lithium-ion battery factory VinES began constructing in December of 2021 to support VinFast EVs and electric buses. Operations at that site are expected to begin next month.

When the second facility is complete, it will be the first LFP battery plant in Vietnam and is expected to create about 500 new jobs. The factory will also operate as a key part of Vingroup’s “three-prong” battery strategy to support VinFast and other energy ventures:

• Buy batteries from the world’s best manufacturers
• Cooperate with partners to produce the world’s best batteries
• Implement in-house battery R&D and production

During the ceremony, VinES CEO Ms. Pham Thuy Linh spoke to the group’s latest expansion and what it means for the steadfast growth of VinFast as an up-and-coming EV automaker:

The LFP battery cell factory is a joint venture with our partner – Gotion. It is an essential component in creating battery supply autonomy for VinFast EVs and VinES’s development goal to become the preeminent energy solutions company. Located next to the VinES battery pack manufacturing in the Vung Ang Economic Zone, this new factory will complete the closed loop production of LFP Batteries in Vietnam, thereby improving localization for VinFast’s EVs and optimizing production efficiency. In addition, the factory will also open up new development opportunities for the Vietnamese EV and clean energy industry.

Mass production at the LFP battery plant is expected to begin mass production in Q3 of 2024.