JAKARTA - A subsidiary of the Geely Holding Group filed a large-value civil lawsuit against battery manufacturer Sunwoda Electronic. The value of the claim reached 2.31 billion yuan, or equivalent to Rp. 5.5 trillion, related to alleged battery cell quality defects used in electric vehicles.
Referring to Sunwoda's announcement dated December 26, its subsidiary, Sunwoda Power Technology, has received legal documents from the Ningbo People's Intermediate Court. The lawsuit was filed by Viridi E-Mobility Technology (Ningbo) Co., Ltd., which alleged that the battery cells shipped in the period from June 2021 to December 2023 were problematic and caused major financial losses.
In its first public statement, Sunwoda stated that it would still follow the ongoing legal process. The company also questioned the validity of the plaintiff's claims, as reported by Carnewschina, Monday, December 29.
"Although the plaintiff has filed a lawsuit, the legal process takes time, and the claim may not be entirely valid," Sunwoda told the Chinese media Economic Observer.
"As a supplier of battery cells, we have conducted extensive testing on the same type of cell. To date, the battery pack system with our independently designed cells supplied to other customers has not experienced any quality problems," he continued.
Sunwoda added that the application scenario and conditions of use of the battery cells by the plaintiff were not communicated thoroughly from the beginning of the cooperation. This matter is closely related to the battery problem on the Zeekr 001.
Since the beginning of 2024, a number of owners have reported a decrease in battery capacity after two to three years of use. Other complaints include drastically slowing charging speeds, voltage instability, and power fluctuations while driving.
In December 2024, Zeekr announced a policy of free battery pack replacement for Zeekr 001 WE86 units that were detected to have abnormal battery conditions. The collaboration between Geely and Sunwoda Power began in 2021, when Sunwoda received a development letter of intent from Viridi to supply battery cells for the PMA platform.
The PMA platform is a modular pure electric architecture developed jointly by Geely and Volvo, and is used by a number of brands such as Zeekr, Smart, Volvo, and Geely Geometry. In September 2021, the two companies also established a joint venture in Zaozhuang, Shandong Province.
Sunwoda confirmed that the battery cells at the heart of the lawsuit were produced at the joint venture facility. Industry observers quoted by Economic Observer assessed that the impact of this case is not only about the cost of replacing batteries.
Quality issues are believed to have tarnished Zeekr's image, which has positioned itself as a brand with high safety standards. In fact, Zeekr previously claimed to be the only new energy brand with a zero record of spontaneous fires globally, before the Zeekr 001 fire incident in Yueqing, Zhejiang, in January 2024.
For Sunwoda, the value of the lawsuit is a serious financial pressure. Financial reports show that the company's net profit attributable to shareholders for 2023 and 2024 cumulatively reached 2.544 billion yuan, just slightly above the 2.31 billion yuan claim now being questioned in court.
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