Vietnamese vehicle maker Kim Long Motor said it is building a battery assembly plant in central Vietnam and will use cylindrical NMC cells supplied by South Korea’s LG Energy Solution to produce packs from 2026.
The facility, located in the Kim Long Motor Industrial Park in Hue, is currently under construction and expected to begin operations in early 2026 with an initial capacity of 1 GWh per year, the company said in a statement. Production will be scaled up in subsequent years. Both companies have signed a letter of intent covering the supply of cells.
“Through cooperation with LG Energy Solution, a world-class battery company, we will be able to secure a stable supply chain and thoroughly manage quality,” said Le Quang Dat, vice chairman of Kim Long Motor’s board of directors. “This will not only enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese electric vehicles but also serve as an opportunity for Vietnam to leap forward as a center of clean energy industry in Asia and the world.”
Kim Long Motor, a subsidiary of the Phu Tai Group, aims to localise more than 80% of its vehicle production by the second quarter of 2026, with battery assembly forming a key part of that target. The company has also built a bus factory in Hue, completed in 2024, and is constructing a passenger car plant with a planned annual capacity of 50,000 units, according to Business Korea. The cells are expected to be 46-series round cells intended for Kim Long’s electric buses.
Earlier this year, Kim Long delivered 443 electric buses to Ho Chi Minh City, which were deployed across 27 new routes in the city.