Vehicle and motorcycle maker Sanyang Motor Co (三陽工業) plans to build a battery plant in Tainan for NT$1 billion (US$32.12 million), the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) reported on Tuesday, quoting company chairman Wu Chin-yuan (吳清源).
The battery plant would be in a green energy park in the Shalun area (沙崙) in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), Wu told the Liberty Times, adding that construction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.
Sanyang aims to produce batteries for vehicles at the plant, Wu said.
The company also plans to make batteries used in energy storage devices for base stations, he told the newspaper.
The company yesterday confirmed the plan, but declined to elaborate.
APh ePower Co (亞福儲能), in which Sanyang invests, has collaborated with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院) to make aluminum-ion batteries for electric vehicles, an official at the institute told the Taipei Times by telephone.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, declined to give a time frame for the release of the aluminum-ion batteries.
Sanyang also plans to release two new electric scooters in the first quarter of next year, Wu told the Liberty Times.
“Our two new light electric scooters, which are expected to enter the market in the first quarter of next year, will be equipped with 1.34 to 5 horsepower engines,” Wu said.
Their price tags would be lower than many of their peers on the market and they would be “affordable” by most people, as the company aims to increase its market share, he added.
Wu told the newspaper that the company is also developing a large electric motorcycle, with an engine of 5 to 40 horsepower, but its launch schedule depends on its battery collaborator, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油).
Approached by the Taipei Times, Sanyang yesterday said that the three new scooters are still under development, without elaborating.
The company plans to use its in-house batteries to power the new electric scooters, it said.
Sanyang’s cumulative revenue in the first five months of this year increased 3.67 percent to NT$13.76 billion from NT$13.27 billion a year earlier.
The company attributed the increase to the launch of two new gasoline-powered scooters, the FNX 125 ABS and the Jet 125 ABS, in April.
As for four-wheelers, the company said it plans to release new models of its Porter truck this month.
It would also launch a new model of the Santa Fe luxury recreational vehicle and a new electric vehicle in the second half, it added.
Sanyang shares yesterday rose 0.22 percent to close at NT$22.8 in Taipei trading.
They have risen 14 percent this year.
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