- The facility is GAC’s first overseas in-house battery pack plant and Inpow’s first factory outside China.
- Inpow says it has delivered more than 300,000 power battery packs. The Thai plant will support GAC’s overseas expansion and vehicle deliveries across ASEAN.
Inpow Battery, a battery subsidiary of GAC Group, has started production at its plant in Thailand, marking a key step in its expansion in Southeast Asia.
The facility in Chonburi province held a ceremony on October 29 to mark its first power battery pack rolling off the production line. It is GAC’s first overseas in-house battery pack plant and Inpow’s first factory outside China.
The plant will strengthen GAC’s vehicle manufacturing, battery supply and local service capabilities in Southeast Asia, providing more reliable production capacity to support deliveries of its new energy vehicles in Thailand and other ASEAN markets, Inpow said in a statement on Friday.
Thai Energy Ministry spokesperson Pongpol Yodmuangcharoen, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) business development head Narong Vacharasathien and GAC executives attended the ceremony.
Inpow has delivered more than 300,000 power battery packs, with vehicles using its batteries having traveled a combined more than 10 billion kilometers (6.2 billion miles), the company said.
Thailand is ASEAN’s largest automotive manufacturing hub. As the country advances its “30@30” target and EV 3.5 policy, it aims for zero-emission vehicles to account for 30% of its vehicle output by 2030, equivalent to more than 700,000 electric passenger vehicles, according to Inpow’s statement. This is driving demand for local battery supply and energy infrastructure, it said.
Inpow plans to work with EGAT and other partners in areas including new energy vehicles, energy storage and energy equipment, with battery manufacturing at the core of the cooperation.
Inpow’s 300,000th power battery pack rolled off the production line on October 15. Its batteries are used in models including the Aion i60, Aion N60 and Aion UT. The 2027 Aion i60 equipped with Inpow batteries offers a range of 700 kilometers.
Inpow is GAC Group’s battery manufacturing arm, with a total investment of 10.9 billion yuan ($1.62 billion). Its business spans batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage.
Eve Energy and Gotion will reportedly handle contract manufacturing, but mass production remains challenging in the near term.
($1 = 6.7138 yuan)
