Asian Tech Press (Dec 13) -- Vietnamese electric car maker VinFast has started building a EV battery manufacturing plant in the country to power its electric vehicles and buses.

According to a news release issued by the company on Sunday, in the first phase the plant will be developed on a 8-hectare plot, with a total investment of more than 4 trillion dong ($173.7 million) and an annual capacity of 100,000 battery packs.

In the second phase, the plant will expand production, including the manufacture of battery cells, and increase production capacity to 1 million battery packs per year.

The plant, named the VinES Battery Manufacturing Factory, is located in central province of Ha Tinh and will supply lithium batteries for VinFast's electric cars and buses.