The joint venture is 51 percent owned by BYD's battery unit FinDreams, with local conglomerate Huaihai holding the remaining 49 percent.
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BYD's (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) sodium-ion battery joint venture has been set up as the new energy vehicle (NEV) and power battery giant pushes for the commercialization of lower-cost batteries.
Huaihai FinDreams Sodium Battery Technology (Xuzhou) Co Ltd was incorporated on April 30 in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province in eastern China, according to data provider Tianyancha.
The company has registered capital of RMB 500 million ($69.2 million), with BYD's battery unit FinDreams holding 51 percent and local conglomerate Huaihai Holding Group holding the remaining 49 percent.
The joint venture's scope of operations includes battery manufacturing and sales, recycling and utilization of used power batteries.
The company will strengthen its technology development and production capacity in the field of sodium-ion batteries and promote the industrialization of sodium-ion battery technology, BYD said today.
On November 19, 2023, Huaihai said it signed an agreement with FinDreams in Shenzhen, where BYD is headquartered, to build the sodium battery base in Xuzhou.
The project, with a planned total investment of RMB 10 billion and an annual capacity of 30 GWh, will be the world's largest supplier of sodium battery systems for microcars, Huaihai said at the time.
Huaihai will provide its resources in terms of marketing, application scenarios, and FinDreams will provide products and services, another previous press release from the company said.
On January 5, the sodium-ion battery production base began construction.
Founded in 1976, Huaihai has operations in small vehicles, electric vehicles, components, and financial services.
In November 2022, there were several rumors that BYD's sodium-ion batteries would be mass-produced in 2023, and that the first model to be powered by the batteries would be the Seagull.
None of these rumors have been confirmed, however, and BYD has so far not announced that it has begun to carry sodium batteries in its EV models.
On July 29, 2021, CATL unveiled its first-generation sodium-ion battery, bringing this new, lower-cost battery into the public eye.
CATL is developing its second-generation sodium battery that won't completely replace lithium batteries, but will shine in many areas, its spokesperson told CnEVPost in an interview earlier this month.
($1 = RMB 7.2251)
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