Cenntro Electric Group Limited announced the establishment of a separate operating division, Cennatic Power Inc. (Cennatic), to manufacture advanced lithium-ion batteries to be used for its electric commercial vehicles.

The company has signed a lease for a 111,363 square-foot purpose-built manufacturing facility at Aero Industrial Park in Monterrey, Mexico where Cennatic will manufacture advanced lithium-ion batteries. Construction of the building is complete and Cennatic expects to complete the production line installation by the end of 2022 and begin trial production in the first half of 2023.

“We believe bringing the production of essential battery technologies and manufacturing process in-house will accelerate the development of our electric commercial vehicles and reduce our supply chain dependency from China,” said Peter Wang, chairman/CEO of Cenntro Electric Group. “We believe it is crucial for an EV company to control its battery supply.”

The facility will produce lithium-ion batteries with advanced features including greater temperature tolerance, faster charging time, safer operating parameters, longer life cycles, and cost efficiencies.

“The new facility’s strategic location in Mexico will enable competitive production and complements our strategy to open new assembly plants that are in customers’ markets to build our capacity. We have worked diligently to develop our own battery technology. We are confident our in-house production and technology will support and improve our vehicles, allow for significant operational enhancement and reduce cost in battery cell production,” said Wang.