Gotion kicks off factory construction in Slovakia

Gotion InoBat Batteries has begun construction of its announced battery factory in Slovakia. In the first development phase, the future factory in Šurany in the south of the country will initially offer an annual capacity of 20 GWh.

Gotion inobat batteries groundbreaking slovakia — Image: Slovakian Government

Pilot production is scheduled to begin in September 2026, with series production set to start in 2027, according to Gotion InoBat Batteries. Production capacity can later be doubled to 40 GWh.

Gotion InoBat Batteries (GIB) is a joint venture between Chinese cell manufacturer and VW partner Gotion High-Tech and Slovakian company InoBat – the Chinese hold an 80 per cent stake and thus have the say in the joint venture. Independent of the GIB factory, InoBat itself operates a 100 MWh pilot production facility in Voderady and is also planning a 10 GWh factory.

GIB will invest a total of €1.2 billion in the site, as was emphasised once again at the factory’s groundbreaking ceremony. However, part of the costs will be subsidised by the Slovakian state; in November 2023, the two companies behind GIB signed a contract with the government. Due to the strategic importance of a large battery factory in the country, high-ranking politicians such as Minister of Economy Denisa Sakova and Prime Minister Robert Fico were also present at the foundation stone laying ceremony.

“Many warned us, including in the EU, when we spoke about this project before 2023 and also before this government was formed,” said Fico. “Now the European Commission is all of a sudden coming forward with an official programme to support battery production for electric vehicles worth more than €8 billion. But we’ve a head start here – pilot production is to commence in 2026, and full production in 2027.”

Not only the Slovakian government, but also China is supporting the project in Šurany. According to Fico, this joint support will ensure that deadlines are met. However, the project is already somewhat behind schedule; in 2023, there was still talk of construction starting in 2024. Now, however, the Slovakian government decided to carry out regular inspections at intervals of around four months, as the Prime Minister stated.

The first phase of the factory, with an output of 20 GWh, is expected to create around 1,300 jobs, with up to 3,500 employees in the final phase. Gotion High-Tech specialises in LFP and LMFP cells, so it is likely that these cell types will also be manufactured in Slovakia – rather than NMC cells containing nickel, manganese and cobalt. According to earlier statements, GIB intends to use Slovakian production primarily to serve the EMEA markets.

tasr.sk, cnevpost.com, gov.sk (in Slovakian)

This article was first published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition.