Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer OptimumNano Energy Company Ltd at the end of June announced it was suspending all production due to a sharp drop in orders, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.
Shenzhen-based OptimumNano was described as the world's fourth largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for EVs behind CATL, BYD and Panasonic, after it claimed to have shipped 5.5 gigawatt-hours of automotive batteries last year.
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The company is said to have completely halted battery production at the beginning of July for a period of six months due to a sharp fall in orders.
Despite the recent sharp rise in demand for EVs in China, OptimumNano has been hit hard by cuts in government subsidies for EVs that do not meet certain technical and performance standards.
As well as wanting to weed out dozens of weak, low-tech companies, the Chinese government was also been concerned about the high number of false claims for EV subsidies.
OptimumNano was heavily dependent on manufacturers of low-tech electric buses and other niche EVs which in turn were heavily dependent on government subsidies. Many of these ceased EV production at the beginning of the year following the cuts.
OptimumNano is said to have told its entire workforce to take the rest of the year off, according to the Nikkei report, citing company sources, while most administration staff had already stopped turning up for work as most production had ceased at the beginning of the year.
