Eyeing the potential of a possible mass uptake of electric vehicles, Taiwanese companies are readying themselves to break into the supply chain with their own parts and components.
E-One Moli Energy Corp (能元科技), Taiwan’s leading maker of lithium-ion battery cells used in laptops, is diversifying into the production of vehicle cells, in hopes of capitalizing on the business opportunity posed by the new vehicle trend.
“Vehicle cells will be our next engine of business growth,” said Richard Fan (范譽騰), E-One’s sales project manager, on the sidelines of a technology showcase organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The ministry yesterday invited a number of vendors from across the electric vehicle supply chain. They included component manufacturers, solutions providers and companies planning to adopt green vehicles.
E-One is a major supplier of laptop battery cells to Simplo Technology Co (新普科技) and DynaPack International Technology Corp (順達), who then package those cells into battery packs.
“The production capacity of rivals such as Samsung SDI is 10 times bigger than ours. We have to find a niche,” Fan said.
The company therefore made a foray into battery cells for power tools and electric vehicles as early as 2005 and expects sales contribution from vehicle cells to rise when more people are driving the green cars.
It is estimated that one electric car will require about 6,000 cells.
One of E-One’s major clients is BMW, for whom it has been supplying cells for the Mini D model for two years.
Chroma Ate Inc (致茂電子), a power supply testing equipment maker, has also been involved in electric vehicle component production for more than three years.
The company is churning out power controllers for clients like Tesla Motors. It hopes to land new orders from Chinese car manufacturers by the end of the year, said engineer Darren Su (蘇沛芃), adding that negotiations are underway with Shanghai General Motors Co (上海通用汽車).
Chroma is also planning to manufacture charging stations for electric vehicles, he added.
Meanwhile, China Steel Corp (中鋼) has initiated a NT$10 million (US$312,500) one-year project to modify its current fleet of 1,000 trucks into electric-powered models.
“Saving energy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions are the major concerns for the project,” said Tsai Song-jau (蔡松釗), general manager of China Steel’s iron and steel research and development department.
Two trucks will be powered by electricity after the project and they will ferry goods at internal sites, he said.
The feasibility of converting the whole fleet into electric-powered vehicles will be studied after that, Tsai added.
The ministry yesterday encouraged more Taiwanese firms to seize the opportunities presented by the booming electric vehicle sector and singled out commercial trucks as an example.
Citing statistics from Fourin Inc — a Japan-based research and publishing company that specializes in the global automotive industry — the ministry said the global market size for commercial trucks is 12 million units a year, while those in Taiwan hit 20,000 units annually.
“The whole car production or component manufacturing in this sector gives Taiwanese firms massive business potential,” the ministry said.
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