an $80 million facility there to research, develop and test EV batteries. Roughly 2 billion euros will be invested in the cell factory by 2026, where production is scheduled to begin in 2025. At full capacity, the plant will be able to produce 40 gigawatt-hours of cells per year, enough for roughly 500,000 EVs, according to the company.
“We hired very seasoned and experienced executives from the battery business,” Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We’re really gearing up to become one of the bigger battery-cell producers.”a cell plant in Valencia, Spain, may build another facility in eastern Europe close to its assembly plants, and is scouting for potential sites in the US, the CEO said. VW is open to inviting in more partners to aid the battery push, he added.
PowerCo will be overseen by the VW executives that have been leading the carmaker’s battery efforts: Frank Blome, head of VW’s battery cell and systems, will be the unit’s CEO, while former Apple Inc. executive Soonho Ahn will serve as chief technical officer. The PowerCo team in Salzgitter will oversee activities including procurement, raw-materials processing, battery development and management of the planned plants.after a period of financing it internally and inviting in strategic partners.
VW’s battery push isn’t without challenges. In the shift to electric cars, manufacturers are facing a complete overhaul of their supply chains with soaring prices for raw materials that threaten to undermine returns. “Some look with concern at the sheer magnitude of the task that lies ahead of them: can it all end well — for me, for my family, for my region?” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during the event in Salzgitter. “That’s why I want to tell you: Yes, it can end well and it will end well, under one condition: that we don’t dwell on the past, but rather take the bull by its horns and aggressively accept the challenge of the new.
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