GAC's Inpow Battery has started production in Thailand. Its first locally built power battery pack came off the line at the Si Racha, Chonburi province plant at a ceremony on Oct. 29.

Key facts

  • It is GAC's first in-house battery pack plant outside China and Inpow's first overseas factory.
  • Inpow's 300,000th pack came off the line on Oct. 15. CnEVPost says cars using its batteries have driven more than 10 billion km in total.
  • Inpow packs are used in the Aion i60, N60 and UT.
  • Inpow is GAC's battery arm, with total investment of 10.9 billion yuan ($1.62 billion).

Why Thailand

Inpow says the plant will support deliveries in Thailand and other ASEAN markets. Thailand's "30@30" goal is for zero-emission vehicles to make up 30% of output by 2030, which Inpow says equals more than 700,000 electric passenger cars. Thai Energy Ministry and EGAT officials attended, and Inpow plans to work with EGAT on EVs, energy storage and equipment. GAC Aion opened a vehicle plant in Thailand in July 2024, so the battery plant moves more of the supply chain into the country.

The competition

Chinese brands are building complete local supply chains in Thailand, one of the region's biggest car markets. Tesla sells cars and runs Superchargers in Thailand but builds nothing there, and its cars arrive from Shanghai.