Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer Anhui DeepWay Technology Company (Deepway) has begun construction of a new heavy-duty truck plant in Huzhou city, Zhejiang province, according to local reports.

Deepway is understood to have held a ground-breaking ceremony last week for a new smart factory, which is expected to have a production capacity of 50,000 smart, battery-powered trucks per year when fully operational.

The facility is also expected to include a number in-house component production operations, such as battery pack assembly, electric drive axles and electronic controllers, as well as supplier operations. The plant is being designed to encourage collaboration between the truck-maker and its key suppliers, to promote resource-sharing and technical collaboration.

DeepWay describes itself as a technology company focused on developing intelligent new energy trucks, backed by autonomous driving technology company Baidu. It claims to be China’s first mass-producer of battery-powered heavy trucks, which come equipped with Level 2 autonomous driving systems. The company said it is now focused on bringing Level 4 autonomous driving technology to the heavy truck market.