ProLogium opens first factory for series production of solid-state cells
As the company has now announced, production there began at the end of 2023 and ProLogium plans to start deliveries to car manufacturers later this year. ProLogium therefore assumes that the first electric car with its solid-state batteries from Taoyuan will be launched on the market in 2024. No initial customer or specific model has been named. The OEM partners known to date include Nio, VinFast and Mercedes-Benz.
If the Taoyuan plant that has now opened reaches its full production capacity of two gigawatt-hours per year, this should be enough for up to 26,000 electric vehicles, as ProLogium calculates – this would result in around 77 kWh per vehicle. The current 500 MWh should therefore be enough for 6,500 vehicles with the same battery size.
According to ProLogium, the company also presented a 106 Ah solid-state cell at the event, which not only has a solid electrolyte, but also an anode with a high silicon content – although the exact proportion is not specified. No other details about the cell itself are disclosed.
This is because ProLogium’s main focus at the factory opening is on production itself. The press release states that production efficiency at the new plant is 2.6 times higher than at the company’s original facility. The plant not only works at twice the production speed, but also with “innovative production technologies” that were developed by ProLogium itself and gradually tested on the test facility. This is intended to increase production efficiency and quality while reducing manufacturing costs. The latter in particular was previously a major challenge for battery cells with solid electrolytes
The opening in Taiwan is not only relevant for Europe because of the Mercedes connection: The Taoyuan plant also serves as a demonstration factory for ProLogium’s first European production site in the northern French port city of Dunkerque. As reported, this will be designed for an annual capacity of 48 GWh and, according to the latest information from the company, series production is set to begin in 2027.
According to ProLogium, it will invest up to 5.2 billion euros in Dunkerque. The plant in Taoyuan was significantly cheaper, mainly due to its size. The company invested the equivalent of 123 million euros here. Incidentally, a delegation from Dunkerque was also present at the opening of the plant, as well as representatives from Mercedes-Benz, FEV and Posco.
“This is the world’s first mass production line for solid-state lithium batteries, mainly for electric cars. EV manufacturers are our future partners,” said company founder and CEO Vincent Yang at a media briefing, according to the Taipei Times. “Some projects could go into mass production this year.”
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