Foxconn’s Advanced Batteries Can Beat China—In the Right Market

Foxconn’s battery plant entered mass production this year. It supplies power cells for a new Taiwan-designed electric truck. CommonWealth offers this exclusive look into this highly automated production facility, which is a key piece of Foxconn’s master plan for dominating the electric vehicle industry.

On Hon Hai (Foxconn) Tech Day 2025, Chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) unveiled the tech giant’s new slogan: “Foxconn Inside”. He stresses that batteries are the linchpin for Hon Hai to transition from assembly to the manufacturing of core components.

The large battery of the electric truck on stage held 104 cells. On a full charge, the vehicle can cover 360 kilometers. This is Hon Hai’s newly mass-produced lithium iron phosphate battery, which took three years to develop.

Taiwan’s Most Automated Battery Factory

CommonWealth is invited into the EV battery center, which came online in March of this year. The humans in cleanroom suits are the oddity here; 85% of the assembly line is automated. “You might say this is the most cutting-edge battery plant in Taiwan,” says Chih-yun Chiu (邱志云), senior director at Hon Hai.

Thin silver and black layers are combined to form battery cells at high speed. Around 80,000 have already been produced, enough for 200 electric buses. The plant’s annual output is 0.6GWh, which equates to the batteries inside 10,000 electric cars. Hon Hai has plans to expand capacity to 1.2GWh.

This year’s batch of batteries is for the ET35; batteries for electric buses are going into the final phase of testing. “Foxtron is among our customers,” says Troy Wu (吳易座), Hon Hai’s VP in charge of global battery strategy. He’s speaking of the joint venture between Hon Hai and Yulon on the manufacturing of electric cars and buses.

The Secret to Mass Production: 20-year Industry Veterans Returning from China

Hon Hai has been developing lithium batteries since 2010, but it wasn’t until Liu’s appointment as chairman in 2019 that batteries were officially listed among Hon Hai’s strategic investments. In 2021, Hon Hai put money into battery materials, established the research institute in Toufen, and then constructed the Ho Fa plant to be the center of mass production.

To catch up, Taiwanese experts dispatched to China years ago to oversee battery production have been brought back home. From materials to quality control to manufacturing, every manager on the team has at least 20 years of experience in the battery business.

Wu explains that, while Taiwan used to excel in battery technology, “the market was too small, and talent went over to China.” Now, those prodigies are returning home.

It’s not easy to find new blood. Battery experts are so scarce in southern Taiwan that Ching-fang Hung (洪靜芳), director of recruitment at Hon Hai’s battery center, admits that a significant number of Hon Hai’s ICT engineers have been retrained to become the backbone of the battery management system. In three years, the staff at the Ho Fa center grew from less than 100 to 400.

Taiwanese Supply Chain & Customization Capabilities are Key to Hon Hai’s Victory

Just as it did with computer servers, Hon Hai is building its battery ecosystem around vertical integration.

Currently, over 80% of the materials used in the 230Ah commercial car battery are produced domestically. Suppliers include Long Time Technology, which makes negative electrode materials (its biggest shareholder is Pan-International and its Chairman is Troy Wu); Giga Solar Materials, which makes positive electrode materials and electrolytes; and China Steel Chemical Corp.

Due to its control over materials and R&D, Hon Hai can customize according to client specifications. This is precisely how it secured the ET35 battery orders. A senior manager in the auto industry reveals that two key components in the ET35, the battery and the ADAS L2 self-driving system, are Hon Hai products.

Next Target: Overseas Markets

The Ho Fa plant does everything from mixing the materials and coating the foils to stacking, formation, and assembly into modules and packs. It even houses a testing center where batteries are subjected to shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures to ensure safety.

The real challenge is the international market. Formosa Plastics is also making inroads into EV batteries. Besides supplying Foxtron, Hon Hai must move into overseas markets.

Angus Lee (李泰安), General Manager at Digi-Triumph Technology, thinks India may be Hon Hai’s best chance. The Indian markets for electric two-wheelers and power storage are growing rapidly; what’s more, Hon Hai has a good relationship with the local government and businesses because it assembles iPhones in India. If a battery factory could be built in India, Lee says, “there would be a lot of potential.”

For Hon Hai, the next milestone is going international with its business model and winning orders from the world’s biggest automakers.