Samsung SDI builds EV battery plant in Hungary

Samsung SDI has constructed an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Goed, 30km north of Budapest, Hungary.

It can produce batteries for 50,000 EVs annually, with operations expected to begin mid-2018.

A ceremony celebrating building completion was attended by about 150 officials, including Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, Samsung SDI president Jun Young-hyun, Hungarian minister of foreign affairs and trade Peter Szijjarto and Korean ambassador to Hungary Yim Geun-hyeong.

The former Samsung SDI plasma display panel plant, on a 330,000 square-metre site, has been transformed for its new purpose to produce high-power and high-efficiency EV batteries.

The company says it will save logistics costs while improving customer service in Europe.

“I expect the plant to contribute much to the growth of the European electric vehicle market,” Young-hyun says.​
Samsung SDI also has EV battery production plants in Ulsan, South Korea, and Xian, China.