Volkswagen plans to expand its battery production capacity to a total of 240 GW/h per year by constructing six giga factories in Europe with partners for the production of electric vehicle batteries by 2030, Germany’s DER AKTIONÄR reported on the 18th (local time). .
Volkswagen promised to outperform Tesla by responding to the rapidly rising electric vehicle market and significantly increasing investments, and expanded its wires to batteries. In this regard, Volkswagen’s Thomas Woolbrich development director said, “The battery production that Volkswagen wants to lead Tesla is proceeding well as planned.”
The heart of Volkswagen’s battery strategy is its partner partners North Bolt and Quantumscape. The two companies will produce solid state (all solid) batteries from 2025. There are doubts about the all-solid battery, but Volkswagen is optimistic about the outlook. If Volkswagen establishes itself as the first electric vehicle maker to use all-solid batteries, it is expected that Volkswagen will become the technology leader in electric vehicles. Volkswagen has already declared that all vehicles will be converted to electric vehicles by 2030.
Quantumscape is a company specializing in solid-state batteries. Compared to lithium-ion batteries manufactured by CATL, LG Energy Solution, and Samsung SDI, it has the advantages of high energy density, high safety, and excellent fast charging capability. It also takes up less space.
Volkswagen is one of Quantumscape’s biggest investors. Bill Gates and Qatar have also invested in Quantumscape. The company currently has about 200 scientists and technicians, and Straubell, who has worked at Tesla for more than 16 years, is also employed by the company.
Volkswagen is also considering designing its own control units due to the complexity of the auxiliary system and the critical role of the system. It is preparing measures to strengthen its own capabilities in the medium term, such as designing semiconductors for autonomous driving.
Automotive experts agree with the expectation that Volkswagen is the fastest changing among traditional automakers and will become the global market leader in electric vehicles.
“Volkswagen’s profitability is likely to continue to rise,” said Commerzbank analyst Damian Blumen. From 2021 to 2022, Volkswagen expects to achieve an average forecast margin of 5%, raising its share price target from 230 euros to 245 euros.
Global Economic Reporter Min-Sung Cho [email protected]