Mystery EV firm to build EUR 8bn plant in Czechia

Czechia will host a EUR 7.9bn electric vehicle (EV) battery in Karvina, east Czechia, funded by a foreign investor, the Czech government announced on Thursday, 7 March.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday that the project should improve the country’s employment figures, energy security and competitiveness, adding that the deal precludes him from disclosing the name of the company.

Czech Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela said the company is large and from a democratic country with which Czechia has long held good relations.

The plant will be located close to Czechia’s tri-border with Poland and Slovakia, and may face opposition from residents. Local media reported that Dolni Lutyne Mayor Pavel Buzek said the plant “will certainly divide the village; some will be for it, and some will be against it” but conceded that the region needs investment.

Volkswagen pulled EV battery plant idea

In November, after months of negotiations with Czechia, German carmaker Volkswagen’s CEO Oliver Blume said it has no plans to build more EV plants in Europe for the time being, after meeting Fiala in Prague. Czechia had offered Volkswagen a site in the west of the country. After the rejection, the government said it would find another investor.

Sikela also revealed in November that Czechia is in discussion with five other potential EV plant investors “from other continents”. Fiala said, “the gigafactory project is a strategic government priority, and it is in our interest to have the entire chain from lithium mining through the gigafactory, i.e. battery production, to the final products in Czechia.”