Volkswagen is concentrating on Tesla with its personal European big factories – Know-how Information, Firstpost

ReutersMar 16, 2021 12:16:50 AM

By Christoph Steitz and Jan Schwartz

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen is planning to build half a dozen battery cell systems in Europe and expand the infrastructure for charging electric vehicles worldwide. This accelerates efforts to overtake Tesla and accelerate the mass adoption of battery-powered cars.

The world’s second-largest automaker, which is in the midst of a major shift towards battery-powered cars, said Monday it plans to operate six battery cell factories in Europe by 2030, which it will build alone or with partners.

“Our transformation will be quick and unprecedented,” said CEO Herbert Diess to Volkswagen’s Power Day, which was also attended by the CEOs of BP, Enel and Iberdrola, to keep up with the trend of Tesla Battery Day last September.

“Electromobility has become a core business for us,” he added.

Volkswagen, whose shares are up as much as 3.8%, hasn’t specifically stated how much the plan will cost. In December it was announced that a total of 35 billion euros would be spent on electromobility by 2025.

The group was lagging behind on electrification until 2015 admitting cheating on US diesel emissions tests and grappling with new Chinese electric vehicle quotas. It now has one of the most ambitious programs in the business.

Volkswagen said the European factories will have a combined production capacity of up to 240 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year, with the first 40 GWh coming from Northvolt, Sweden, and production starting in 2023.

As part of the deal, Volkswagen will increase its 20% stake in Northvolt and also take over the Swedish company’s stake in a planned battery cell company in the German city of Salzgitter, which will form the second plant from 2025.

A factory in Spain, France or Portugal will follow in 2026 and a location in Poland, Slovakia or the Czech Republic by 2027. Two more plants will be built by 2030.

While the first two factories are already reflected in Volkswagen’s financial planning, the group is currently in “intensive discussions” about how the subsequent factories are to be equipped with financial targets, said board member Thomas Schmall.

CHARGED

Volkswagen is also working on a comprehensive expansion of the charging infrastructure, the lack of which is still seen as a major obstacle to the mass acceptance of battery-powered cars.

Through existing efforts and partnerships with the oil company BP and the leading European energy suppliers Enel and Iberdrola, Volkswagen plans to operate around 18,000 public fast-charging stations in Europe by 2025.

This is a five-fold increase in the existing fast-charging system, Volkswagen said, adding that € 400 million would be invested in the initiative.

In North America, Volkswagen is aiming for 3,500 fast charging points through its Electrify America unit by the end of 2021, while in China, the world’s largest car market, the Group is aiming for 17,000 by 2025.

In China, where Volkswagen acquired 26.5% of battery maker Guoxuan High-Tech Co Ltd last year, the automaker plans to sell more than 2 million electric vehicles a year by the end of the decade.

Volkswagen presented the design and presented plans for a new uniform prismatic battery cell from 2023, which could support cost reductions through higher self-cell production and have an impact on current suppliers.

Electric vehicle manufacturers, including Tesla, use cylindrical battery cells that are similar to flashlight batteries and are relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

Prismatic cells, which resemble a thin hardcover book, are housed in a rectangular metal case and are more expensive. Pouch cells, another alternative, are thinner and lighter and resemble a flexible metal mailing envelope.

“On average, we will reduce the costs for battery systems to well below 100 euros per kilowatt hour,” said Schmall. “This will finally make electromobility affordable and the dominant drive technology.”

The cost of battery cells used in electric vehicles fell to an average of $ 110 per kilowatt hour in December, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said https://www.reuters.com/article/electric-batteries-costs-idUSL1N2II222.

($ 1 = 0.8387 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Jan Schwartz; additional reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit and Yilei Sun in Beijing; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Keith Weir)

This story was not edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by automatic feed.