November 2, 2024: Asahi Kasei and Honda announced yesterday that they had signed a shareholders’ agreement to convert an existing Asahi Kasei subsidiary called E-Materials in Canada into a joint venture to be renamed Asahi Kasei Honda Battery Separator Corporation (provisional working name).
The new venture, which should start manufacturing the base film and coating of Asahi Kasei’s Hipore lithium battery separator in 2027. The aim is to make 700 million m2 per year of coated film.
Honda Canada will acquire a 25% stake by subscribing to new shares to be issued by E-Materials through a third-party allotment. Honda will invest some C$417 million (approximately $300 million) combining the subscription of new shares and other investment in this joint venture.
Meanwhile, Asahi Kasei rival in the separator business, ENTEK, is ready to push ahead on its own plans to build a lithium ion battery separator manufacturing facility. In July the US Department of Energy issued a conditional loan of up to $1.2 billion for ENTEK to build a new facility in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The DOE estimates that by 2030, the North American lithium-ion EV battery industry will require annual separator production of 7 billion to 10 billion square meters. Once complete, the ENTEK facility should have the capacity to manufacture 1.72 billion square meters of separator material annually for the North American EV market.
The Asahi Kasei-Honda joint venture should become active in early 2025, subject to obtaining permits and approvals from relevant authorities.
“The two companies will combine each other’s strengths, such as high value-added material technologies and electrification technologies, to produce high-quality separators to be utilized for lithium-ion batteries that will accelerate the realization of high-performance electrified vehicles,” said a joint statement.
Ryu Taniguchi, president at Asahi Kasei Battery Separator Corp, said: “At the beginning of October, we launched Asahi Kasei Battery Separator as a new company for the Hipore separator business to achieve more nimble management for this essential component of lithium-ion batteries.
“I am confident that we can continue to leverage the technology and experience gained with Hipore as well as our global network and diverse personnel to realize innovations in batteries for the future of energy storage.”
