Foxconn Begins Work On New Battery Gigafactory In Taiwan As It Aims To Emerge As Major EV Player

Foxconn, which is the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, broke ground on its first battery cell plant on Wednesday (Jun 15), as it moves to deepen its presence in the global electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.

Foxconn will invest over $200 million in building a battery cell center in in the southern port city of Kaohsiung.

The battery cell center — which would house research and development, as well as production — would be in the city’s Ho Fa Industrial Park and is expected to start mass production in the first quarter of 2024, Hon Hai said.

The new battery facility is part of Foxconn's plan for building an EV ecosystem in Kaohsiung, where the company is also setting up facilities for electric bus assembly and energy storage systems.

The company will trial produce lithium iron phosphate batteries -- the same type of battery that China's battery behemoth Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. makes

"We plan to build a localized ecosystem for the battery supply chain, from materials to battery cells and battery packs, in Kaohsiung," Foxconn Chairman Young Liu said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“We hope to build a battery supply chain entirely in Taiwan from battery materials and battery cells to battery packs. We hope to localize the whole supply chain,” Liu added

The center would have an installed capacity to make 1 gigawatt-hour per year of electric buses, sedans and energy storage devices.

Foxconn has already developed an open platform (MIH) for EV development, which was launched by Hon Hai three years ago, aims to shrink the time to get EVs to market.

Foxconn has set an ambition goal of capturing at least 5 percent share of the global electric vehicle market by 2025 and aiming to generate US$30 billion in EV sales. It will face tough competition from established players like Tesla, Volkswagen and General Motors.

The company has been gradually working towards realizing its EV ambitions. It bought a factory from the US startup Lordstown Motors Corp in order to manufacture electric cars. Back in August, Foxconn purchased a chip plant in Taiwan to fulfill the future demands for automotive chips.

In Oct 2021,the unveiled three new electric vehicle models during the Hon Hai Tech Day.