The gigafactory funding is part of the first €100m phase of the project which aims to provide batteries from a 10GWh gigafactory for up to 240,000 electric vehicles (EVs) by 2024.
This first phase is in partnership with the Inobat’s parent company, the IPM Group, and Flint Hills Resources, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, which in July last year invested $20m in Wildcat Discovery Technologies for lithium-ion battery research and development. InoBat Auto is a joint venture between Wildcat and InoBat, the EU’s investment vehicle for battery technology in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
The aim is to scale the pilot line, based on Wildcat’s proprietary technology, to a 10GWh battery gigafactory. The construction of the facility is expected to start in the second quarter of 2020, with the aim of starting operations towards the end of 2021.
“The investment in Wildcat, particularly alongside Flint Hills Resources, is an honour. We recognise Wildcat’s potential for the auto battery industry, and transferring unique technologies to Europe and creating complex value chains that will help solve some of the most pressing infrastructure issues is our core mission,” said Marian Bocek, Managing Partner at IPM Group and Executive Chairman at InoBat.