Hong Kong technology start-up GRST seeks to revolutionise electric-car battery manufacturing on sustainability and costs

The five-year-old firm has clinched an agreement with a key shareholder to build a US$40 million plant to make – and later recycle – the rechargeable batteries

GRST’s water-based patented technology could cut the emission of greenhouse gases by up to 40 per cent during lithium-ion batteries production and by up to 80 per cent during recycling

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Part of the GRST battery production line in Foshan, Guangdong, China. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 6:00pm, 11 Jul 2021Updated: 10:42pm, 11 Jul 2021

Hong Kong start-up GRST is betting big that its award-winning technology will revolutionise the way lithium-ion batteries – the most valuable component in electric vehicles – are made, so that they will become cheaper and more sustainable.

The five-year-old firm crossed a key development milestone last month, when it clinched an agreement with a strategic shareholder to form a joint venture to build a US$40 million plant to make – and later recycle – the rechargeable batteries.

Nan-Hung Yeh, the chairman of Taiwan-listed Realtek Semiconductor, one of the world’s largest integrated circuit design firms, has agreed to take a 35 per cent stake in the joint venture 65 per cent-owned by GRST.

“A designer of chips for automobile firms, Realtek is keen to develop smart and sustainable batteries for electric vehicles that will combine their battery management systems and our sustainable manufacturing know-how,” said GRST co-chairman Alex Yeung Sau-hung in an interview.

“The world is expected to be in short supply of lithium by 2025. If we don’t start recycling materials soon, we will see erratic spikes in prices.”