2024-02 SUSTAINABLE BUS

OUTLOOKS
LOW-VOLTAGE BATTERY MANUFACTURERS
Apart from the industry-flagship traction batteries, producers of low-voltage
starter batteries also enjoy considerable support from the Hungarian
government. Japanese battery manufacturer GS Yuasa opened its first
European factory in Miskolc, northeastern Hungary, in 2019, where 12V
automotive lithium-ion batteries are produced.
The initial production capacity of
500,000 units/year is planned to be increased
soon, but the company’s future
vision also include installation of lithium-ion
cell manufacturing process in the
plant. Jász-Plasztik - which is an exception
in a context dominated by Far Eastern
companies, since it is a Hungarian-owned
firm - also received state financial support
in recent years to increase its production
capacity.
electric or fuel cell powered buses as well, at
the moment most customers of the battery industry
products produced in Hungary are coming
from the passenger car business. Some
of the OEMs representing the main customer
market also operate in Hungary, while the
local Hungarian bus industry - which is currently
a shadow of its former glory, although
some developments have been done the
last years - plays a negligible role for now.
The only exception is BYD, which operates
(among others) a bus assembly plant in Hungary
and uses its own batteries.
In below, we provide a slight overview about
the EV battery producer companies which
already operate manufacturing plants in
Hungary or announced to do so in the near
future. We also take a look at their products
and manufacturing capacity.
BYD
An internationally well-known and respected
Chinese company, BYD has special connections
in Hungary. Its already mentioned bus
assembly plant in Komárom started operations
in 2017, and now is the only foreignowned
bus factory in a country which has a
huge heritage in bus and coach manufacturing.
BYD is also the current leader of the
local e-bus market, but buses will not be the
only vehicles that roll off Hungarian production
lines. On December 22, 2023 it was officially
confirmed that BYD will build up its
first European electric passenger car assembly
plant in the city of Szeged, in the southeastern
corner of Hungary. Last but not least,
BYD’s battery business branch also plans to
establish a manufacturing unit in the country,
namely at Fót, in the northeastern agglomeration
of Budapest.
It is important to note that unlike the previously
mentioned EV battery makers, BYD
would not manufacture battery cells in Hungary,
but would establish an assembly plant
for battery packs, without the use of harmful
chemicals. When officially announcing
the new plant’s arrival in June 2023, Péter
Szijjártó, minister of foreign affairs and trade
of Hungary stated that the total value of the
investment is 10 billion HUF (nearly 27 million
euros), with a financial support of 1 billion
HUF from the Hungarian government.
The initial plans include a workforce of
100 people. The battery modules and packs
would be assembled from cells based on Li-
FePO4 chemistry, which themselves would
come to Fót from other BYD facilities. The
Hungarian-assembled batteries are intended
for use in various electric vehicles, including
e-buses. However, neither the exact vehicle
types, nor the factory’s planned production
output has been confirmed yet.
CATL
The largest EV battery maker of the world for
six consecutive years by now (according to
the 2022 report of the SNE Research market
SK Innovation
Another major player from South Korea,
battery industry giant SK Innovation operesearch
and consultant company from South
Korea), CATL is a well known supplier of
many electric cars and buses worldwide. The
Chinese industry giant is also considered to
be one of the most important company in the
Hungarian economy in the future. Although
not operating yet, it is already decided and
officially announced that CATL will establish
a huge battery cell manufacturing plant
in Debrecen, the second most populous city
of Hungary. This will be the second battery
manufacturing base of the company outside
China, after commissioning the first such
unit in Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany.
The project, which is the biggest greenfield
investment to date in Hungary with its total
value of 7.34 billion euros, enjoys great support
from the Hungarian government, in order
to create an estimated 9,000 jobs locally.
According to the available industry news,
CATL’s Debrecen plant will produce NMC
cells in prismatic and cylindrical format. Production
output in the first phase will be an
impressive 40 GWh/year, with plans already
announced to increase it to even 100 GWh/
BYD plant is the only
foreign-owned bus factory
in Hungary. The group
has plans to establish an
assembly facility for battery
packs. CATL will establish a
battery cell manufacturing
plant in Debrecen, the
second most populous city
of Hungary. This will be the
2nd battery manufacturing
base of the company
outside China, after the one
in Erfurt, Germany.
year in the near future. Trial production is
planned to start at the beginning of 2025.
Modules and cells produced at the Debrecen
factory will appear in electric models of approximately
30 different car manufacturers,
including BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, Toyota,
Volvo and Tesla. CATL traction batteries
are also widely used by e-bus manufacturers,
among others the world’s largest
bus and coach manufacturer Yutong and the
Hungarian brand Ikarus.
EVE Power
In May 2023, another major battery industry
investment was officially announced on the
Hungarian media: EVE Power, another powerful
Chinese participant of the EV battery
industry, will establish its first European production
plant in Debrecen. It will supply 6thgeneration
cylindrical lithium-ion battery
cells, most probably in a 4695 format, for the
future BMW battery module assembly plant
located also in the same city, with a massive
production capacity of 28 GWh/year. The total
value of the investment exceeds 1 billion
euros (from which 37.5 million euros come
from the Hungarian government as financial
support). The factory is expected to start operating
in 2026, with a workforce of more than
1000 people.
Samsung SDI
Samsung SDI, one of the leading EV battery
cell producers worldwide, can be considered
as a pioneer of the traction battery industry
in Hungary, as it started to construct its first
traction battery plant in the country as early
as 2016, located at Göd (sometimes written
as „Goed” in the international media), a town
about 25 kilometers north of Budapest. In
fact, it was a brownfield investment by converting
Samsung’s own former cathode ray
tube factory, which was closed two years before,
due to the market loss of the technology.
The new battery plant’s inauguration ceremony
was held in 2017, quickly followed by
a further expansion investment of 1.2 billion
euros in the same year. As a result, the second
unit was completed in 2019 and reached full
production capacity (more than 6 million
cells/month) by January 2022. By now the
total manufacturing output increased to 40
GWh/year. Prismatic battery cells produced
here are are used in electric cars of BMW,
Volkswagen and Stellantis. The Hungarian
plant will also supply sixth-generation P6
prismatic NCA cells for Hyundai Motor’s
electric vehicles dedicated for the European
market, starting from 2026.
In January 2023, there were reports that
Samsung SDI would expand its operations in
Hungary with a new production plant, with
a similar output as the previous two. According
to the rumours, this facility would produce
46120-type cylindrical cells, to be used
exclusively in BMW cars - more precisely,
the planned new manufacturing unit is expected
to supply the also recently-announced
BMW battery module assembly plant in Debrecen,
Hungary.
From an e-bus perspective, Samsung SDI
cells are used in the traction battery packs of
Akasol, which itself is a supplier of Mercedes-Benz,
Van Hool and Industria Italiana
Autobus. The current Hungarian market leader
Credobus will also use these packs in
its all-new zero emission bus family, scheduled
to be introduced in 2024. Also, battery
technology of Samsung SDI is used in Webasto
batteries, which can be found for instance
in Otokar e-buses.
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