SK Innovation Company said it is planning to build a third EV battery plant in Hungary to meet growing global demand for zero emission vehicles, according to local reports.
The South Korean energy group already has an automotive lithium ion battery plant in operation in Hungary, a 7.5 gigawatt hours facility located in the city of Komarom, and is also building a second plant in the country with 9.8 gigawatt hours capacity which is due to be completed in 2022. It also has EV battery plants in South Korea and in China.
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The Seoul-listed company said in a statement "we have launched certain processes, such as looking for a candidate site for the proposed plant".
Daimler and Audi have car plants in the vicinity of Komaron while Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have assembly facilities in nearby Czech Republic and Slovakia respectively.
Sales of electric and plug in hybrid vehicles in Europe in the first half of 2020 increased by 82% year on year to 228,944 units, despite a 38% drop in passenger vehicle sales to just under 4.6m units.
SK Innovation is currently fighting legal action in the US by LG Chem, the world's largest EV battery manufacturer also from South Korea, over patent infringements.
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