Hungary has emerged as a major battery manufacturing power
Hungary has now emerged as a major battery-producing power, in 2021 it was the world’s third-largest battery producer, which is quite an achievement if you take into account the country’s size and population, said the state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (KKM) responsible for the development of bilateral relations on Friday in Biatorbágy.
Tamás Menczer’s ceremonial presentation of the Chinese multinational car manufacturing company NIO’s investment in Biatorbágy, which manufactures battery exchange stations: the ongoing automotive investment shows that the Hungarian government’s policy of opening up to the east was correct. He added that more than a decade ago, around 80 percent of the investments in the world were covered by Western capital and 20 percent by Eastern capital, which is now the case, and 70 percent of the investments were paid from Eastern capital and 30 percent from Western capital. Hungary has always built its foreign policy based on mutual respect, which of course is the case with China as well – the soil is the state secretary.
Tamás Menczer explained: Hungary has become the leader of the new automotive era for the National Investment Agency (HIPA), with the help of which Asian electric battery industry investors have appeared in 20 Hungarian settlements in recent years. Informed that the NIO company is carrying out an investment worth HUF 5.6 billion in Biatorbágy, for which the Hungarian government returned a non-reimbursable subsidy of HUF 1.7 billion. This will create hundreds of jobs – he emphasized.
The Secretary of State on social media published post:
According to the State Secretary’s presentation, in Biatorbágy – the only one in Europe – battery exchange stations are manufactured where you just drive your car, and the machine replaces the entire battery pack with a charged battery pack of the same type in a few minutes. This operation only takes a few minutes, which is a big difference compared to the long charging time, he added.
“NIO plans to put more than 4,000 exchange stations into operation by 2025, and 1,000 of them outside of China. They will build 20 exchange stations per month in Biatorbágy,” said Tamás Menczer. According to the State Secretary of the KKM, the sales revenue of the NIO company group in 2021 was close to HUF 1,700 billion, and last year it produced more than 90,000 electric vehicles. Lihong Qin, co-founder and president of NIO Co. Ltd., also participated in the event.