Volkswagen to put up battery cell factory in Salzgitter

Volkswagen's battery production facility in Salzgitter

Volkswagen is pushing its e-mobility strategy further as it recently broke ground in Salzgitter for the Group's first cell factory in partnership with PowerCo.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • When will the production start at the Volkswagen Salzgitter plant?

    The production in the soon-to-rise facility will start in 2025.
  • How much will PowerCo invest in the Salzgitter facility?

    The newly created firm will invest more than €20 billion
  • In a statement, the Volkswagen Group said that newly created firm will be responsible for the global battery business as well as the other activities along the entire battery value chain. The production in the facility will start in 2025.

    Volkswagen shared that PowerCo will invest more than €20 billion (more than P1.137 trillion) “together with partners in the development of the business area, to generate annual sales in excess of €20 billion and to employ up to 20,000 people in Europe alone.”

    Projected Volkswagen battery production facility in Salzgitter

    Meanwhile, Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Herbert Diess said that the groundbreaking marks a strategic milestone for the group.

    “The battery cell business is one of the cornerstones of our New Auto strategy which will make Volkswagen a leading provider of the sustainable, software-driven mobility of tomorrow. Establishing our own cell factory is a megaproject in technical and economic terms. It shows that we are bringing the leading-edge technology of the future to Germany,” he added.

    Further, the Volkswagen Group said that aside from the Salzgitter facility, another cell factory is set to be put up in Valencia and sites for three cell workshops in Europe are currently being identified.

    Moreover, PowerCo is also exploring the possibility of creating gigafactories in North America.

    PowerCo will be managed by its CEO Frank Blome and Board Members Sebastian Wolf (Chief Operations Officer), Kai Alexander Müller (Chief Financial Officer), Soonho Ahn (Chief Technology Officer), Jörg Teichmann (Chief Purchasing Officer) and Sebastian Krapoth (Chief Human Resources Officer).

    “In building our first in-house cell factory, we are consistently implementing our technology roadmap. PowerCo will become a global battery player. The company’s major strength will be vertical integration from raw materials and the cell right through to recycling. In future, we will handle all the relevant activities in-house and will gain a strategic competitive advantage in the race to take the lead in e-mobility. We have secured a top team for this great undertaking,” Thomas Schmall, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG responsible for Technology and Supervisory Board Chairman of PowerCo was quoted as saying.

    Volkswagen battery production facility site in Salzgitter

    For his part, Blome said that the factory that in Salzgitter will serve as the blueprint for cell factories in Europe.

    “What we have put to the test millions of times over with vehicle platforms such as the MQB and MEB will also lay the foundation for establishing cell production: we will be standardizing on the basis of European standards and upscaling. This way, we will combine speed and cost optimization with the highest quality levels,” the PowerCo chief executive said.

    Volkswagen noted that the standardization will not only cover equipment, buildings and infrastructure but also products, processes and IT.

    Further, each factory will be fully operated on electricity from regenerative sources and will be designed for future closed-loop recycling.

    Photos from Volkswagen

    Also read:

    Volkswagen Group to develop own battery cells in center of excellence

    Volkswagen establishes ultra-modern lab for battery R&D

    ACCELERATE Strategy to fast-forward Volkswagen into a software-driven mobility provider

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