Lion Smart to source battery cells from SVOLT
The German battery specialist Lion Smart will equip its second-generation battery packs with cells from the Chinese manufacturer SVOLT, including both NCM- and LFP-based cells. An agreement has now been signed to this effect.
Lion Smart announced its intention to start delivering battery packs with SVOLT cells to customers in the second half of 2024. In order to reach the market so quickly, the cells will initially be imported from an SVOLT factory in China. From 2025 onwards, cell production in Europe and thus intra-European sourcing of the cells is possible, the company wrote in an accompanying statement. According to the partners, the cooperation between Lion Smart and SVOLT will begin “immediately” with the development of an SVOLT cell adapted to Lion Smart’s needs.
“With the new cells based on the latest cell chemistry we can now diversify our portfolio to better address our market segments of mobility as well as storage,” said Winfried Buss, CEO and Managing Director of the Lion Smart Group. Thanks to the new cells, Buss promises customers from the mobility sector “approximately 20% more energy in the same package”, while customers from the stationary market will receive battery packages with higher charge cycles at very competitive prices in the future.
Lion Smart is currently building the first generation of its battery packs in its series production facility in Hildburghausen in southern Thuringia, which was inaugurated in June. This is where the company had moved its production from Dingolfing in Lower Bavaria. According to the company, it invested several million euros in the new location. According to Lion Smart, around 4.8 million battery cells can be assembled into packs annually in the factory. This corresponds to a capacity of 200 battery packs per day or 50,000 packs per year, which can be assembled in three shifts. When the move was announced in October 2022, there was still talk of a two-shift operation with up to 40,000 packs per year. The output plans were therefore revised upwards within a few months.
Lion Smart is a subsidiary of the Swiss holding company Lion E-Mobility AG. The company’s core product is the Lion SE09 high-voltage battery – for both mobile and stationary applications. Assembly is “almost completely automated”, Lion Smart recently announced. Lion’s major customers include Canadian manufacturer Vicinity Motor.
“Within our strategy to develop our company into a relevant battery pack manufacturer, we have completed the first step with the takeover of the SE09 Battery and the successful launch of a LION Smart owned production. In the next step this cooperation with one of the top global cell suppliers will enable us to upgrade the LION Smart SE09 Battery pack with cutting edge technology on battery cells. This will be the future basis to generate new customers and subsequently contribute to the growth of the company in the next years,” explained Alessio Basteri, President of the Supervisory Board of Lion E-Mobility AG.
SVOLT is planning five battery cell factories in Europe. Two are confirmed for Germany so far. The battery manufacturer, which emerged from the Chinese carmaker Great Wall, is aiming for a total production capacity of at least 50 gigawatt-hours in Europe by the end of the decade, it said in the spring.
0 Comments