Globe says Tesla sees Chinese battery plant in Hungary Globe says Tesla sees Chinese battery plant in Hungary
2024-10-15 09:13 ET - In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Debrecen, Hungary, is home to the new 7.3-billion-euro CATL battery plant, one of the biggest of its kind in the world and the showpiece for Chinese investment in Hungary in the electric-vehicle industry. The Globe's Eric Reguly writes that surrounded by cranes and trucks trundling to and from the site, the Debrecen plant, which will eventually employ 9,000 workers, is located on 221 hectares of what was farmland and forest. Construction is to finish in March, after which it will supply the European automotive companies, some of which have assembly plants near Debrecen. After the third phase is finished in a few years, its annual output will be enough to supply batteries for more than one million electric vehicles. The factory is championed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is playing a delicate and potentially risky game of courting big investments from China and Russia while maintaining Hungary's membership in the anti-Russia and Sino-skeptic European Union. Attracting Chinese factories is part of Mr. Orban's "economic neutrality" strategy, meaning he does not play favourites. German automakers Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes welcome Hungarian battery plants.