CCCC is a state-owned enterprises (SOE), and invests more than $12.6 billion per year in urbanization projects. It joins the JV both to support the Chinese government’s clean energy initiative and for the growth opportunities the venture affords. This joint venture will initially focus on batteries for the micro-hybrid (start/stop) vehicle market, a market in which the China government is taking aggressive action to minimize the environmental damage generated by the lead-acid battery product. Pike Research projects that the micro-hybrid market will reach 34 million vehicles sold annually by 2015.

Start/stop vehicles are among the most cost effective ways for auto manufacturers to reach their goals and meet the stricter government mandates that are to come. Our high power nickel zinc batteries have been optimized to meet the unique needs of this segment. By the end of 2012, the joint venture will have capacity to produce 400,000 auto batteries per year.

—Dan Squiller, CEO of PowerGenix

Located in Anhui province, the home base of many leading Chinese automotive engineering and major vehicle OEMs, the factory will be built from the ground up to meet the quality and cost requirements of auto customers. The JV’s product will be ready for customer qualification and will enter pilot production in the second half of 2012. Factory production will scale rapidly in the coming years.

Since it has become clear that China must move beyond lead batteries, we welcome the opportunity to bring environmentally friendly and cost competitive Nickel-Zinc chemistry to global markets.

—Ge Jin, group vice president of China City Construction Corporation and chairman of CCCC Anhui Co., Ltd.

PowerGenix’s research facility in Shenzhen will continue to expand the largest NiZn patent portfolio in the world, pushing forward the technology to serve PowerGenix partners’ needs, including those of the new JV, officially named CCCC-PowerGenix Clean Energy Co., Ltd. (Anhui).