E-Golf
Instead of building its own cell production, Volkswagen is once research.
Düsseldorf, HanoverAs more and more European companies announce the construction of a cell factory Volkswagen first get into the research. Together with the Swedish battery start-up Northvolt and other partners from a total of seven EU countries want to enable “sustainable, climate-friendly and competitive battery cell production in the European Union”, a joint statement states. That Volkswagen but now also its own cell production in Germany building is more than unlikely.
The establishment of a European battery union is only a small building block in the Volkswagen strategy, As the Wolfsburg car company in the coming years massive in the production of electric cars the demand for battery cells increases.
In the middle of the next decade, Volkswagen will need cells with a capacity of around 300 gigawatt hours. This corresponds to about ten Giga factories based on the model of the American e-car manufacturer Tesla and the Japanese battery manufacturer Panasonic, In a joint venture, both companies had built a Giga factory in the US state of Nevada.
For the first phase, the cells for VW but first come from abroad. Like most of the industry, the carmaker now sources its cells from Asian manufacturers such as Samsung SDI. SK Innovation or CATL.
Current club events
In the middle of the next decade, Volkswagen could start building its own factories. “A decision has not yet been made,” said Stefan Sommer, the responsible purchasing director of the group, last week.
For example, Volkswagen is considering a joint venture with SK Innovation to build a joint cell production facility. Model is the cooperation of Tesla and Panasonic; a few weeks ago was too Toyota entered into a joint venture with the Japanese cell manufacturer.
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However, a VW cell factory in Germany will not be able to do it as quickly as the VW Group’s confidential strategy paper on electromobility reveals. “For cell production in Germany, the profitability analysis currently shows a location disadvantage of more than 20 percent,” says the paper, which is available to Handelsblatt.
For Volkswagen to build a cell factory in Germany, the conditions would have to change. According to information from the VW paper, this primarily includes a significant reduction in electricity costs. A cell factory consumes as much energy as an aluminum production. Therefore, what is needed is an exemption from the EEG levy, which promotes renewable forms of energy through the electricity price.
The situation is quite different with the ambitious battery start-up Northvolt. The Sweden Under the leadership of ex-Tesla manager Peter Carlsson have already applied for the German battery billions and do not keep their ambitions behind the hill.
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“We are seeing a massive increase in demand for e-car batteries and a strategic awareness of the importance of own cell manufacturing in Europe. Germany becomes a central market for Northvolt, “said a spokesman for the company Handelsblatt.
In addition to the gigafactory in Sweden, they are looking around for potential locations in Germany. “Many of our cells will go to the German automotive industry anyway. The advantages of a production in Germany are obvious, “said the spokesman. It is currently in talks with potential partners, but he did not want to reveal more details.
In addition to Northvolt, a total of more than 30 companies have, according to the Federal Ministry of Economics, the billions in funding advertised. Those interested include the German battery manufacturer Varta, the chemical giant BASF, the French PSA and the Munich carmaker BMW.
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