Wed, Jan 24, 2024 page12

• ProLogium touts new EV battery plant in Taoyuan

  TAOYuAN FACTORY: The firm’s CEO said it is the world’s first solid-state lithium battery mass-production line, which would mainly target makers of electric vehicles

  • By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter, in TAOYUAN
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  ProLogium Technology Co (輝能科技) expects the first electric vehicle (EV) equipped with its solid-state lithium battery to hit the road later this year, the company said yesterday in Taoyuan as it launched the world’s first factory for solid-state batteries for commercial use.

  The factory is poised to supply up to 26,000 EVs when it reaches full capacity of 2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) a year, ProLogium Technology said.

  The company has invested NT$4.2 billion (US$134.07 million) in the facility, which has initial capacity of 0.5GWh a year, or enough batteries for up to 14,000 vehicles, it said.

  

  ProLogium Technology Co founder and chief executive officer Vincent Yang speaks at a media briefing in Taoyuan yesterday.

  Photo: CNA

  “This is the world’s first [solid-state lithium battery] mass-

  production line, mainly targeting electric cars. EV [automakers] are our future partners,” company founder and chief executive officer Vincent Yang (楊思?) told a media briefing.

  “Some projects may enter mass production this year,” Yang said, declining to name which automakers would make such a breakthrough.

  Mercedes-Benz is one of ProLogium Technology’s shareholders and has been collaborating with the Taiwanese firm to adopt cost-effective and safer lithium batteries in its next-generation vehicles. Vietnamese automaker VinFast also holds an unspecified stake in ProLogium.

  There are also plans for the Taoyuan plant to produce solid-state batteries for electric aircraft, other vessels, drones, robots and devices used in the aerospace industry, Yang said.

  The new facility would serve as a demonstration factory for global expansion, particularly in Dunkirk, France, where ProLogium plans to build a 5.2 billion euro (US$5.65 billion) factory, the company said.

  The French factory, which is to have an annual capacity of 48Gwh, is to enter mass production in 2027, Yang said.

  The company aims to become the world’s biggest solid-state lithium battery supplier between 2030 and 2032, when its French factory reaches full capacity, he said.

  By that time, ProLogium would have a 35 to 40 percent share of the world’s solid-state lithium battery market, if the penetration of solid-state lithium batteries makes up 7 percent of the global battery market, he said.

  ProLogium expects the manufacturing costs of solid-state lithium batteries to drop to match the costs of ternary lithium batteries — about US$100 per kilowatt-hour — in 2032, Yang said.

  ProLogium is the world’s sole supplier for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) tools, a crucial piece of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, as its batteries are able to perform in extreme low-pressure environments, he said.

  The Taoyuan factory is expected to serve the company’s Asian customers, while the French site would focus on Europe, the firm said, adding that it would not rule out building a factory in the US to tap that market.
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