South Korea’s SsangYong Motor Co. under court protection and process of finding a new owner to replace India’s Mahindra & Mahindra has teamed up with China’s electric vehicle maker BYD Auto Co. to catch up in electrification.

The two companies signed a technological partnership contract for development of key EV component batteries and manufacturing of battery packs at a signing event held online on Tuesday, SsangYong Motor announced Wednesday.

The batteries developed on the partnership will be supplied to power SsangYong Motor’s first EV model “U100” under development for mass production from 2023. SsangYong and BYD plan to expand the cooperation for join development of battery packs and EV-only production platforms.

For the collaboration, the Korean carmaker plans to dispatch its research staffs to BYD despite the virus situation. It hopes the cooperation will help secure stable supply system as well for fast migration to eco-friendly vehicles for future growth engines.

BYD currently is the world’s No. 4 in EV sales and battery development. Its EVs use self-developed components only. It has been expanding partnership with finished carmakers.

“Through the partnership with BYD, SsangYong Motor now is able to pursue mobility shift to EVs faster than earlier. We expect the cooperation will also guarantee stable supply of key components for EVs such as batteries in the long term,” said Jung Yong-won, SsangYong Motor’s executive vice president and legal manager.

By Seo Jin-woo and Lee Ha-yeon

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