Volkswagen establishes six battery factories by 2030… Reduced from Korea

Input 2021.03.15 23:37 | Revision 2021.03.15 23:39

German car maker Volkswagen announced that it would expand the installation of’square type’ batteries in its electric vehicles in the future, and a blow to the Korean battery makers, which had been supplying’pouch-type’ batteries so far, became inevitable. Volkswagen also announced plans to secure electric vehicle supply by establishing six battery cell factories in Europe by 2030.

On the 15th (local time), Volkswagen held the brand’s first’Power Day’ and announced a roadmap for battery and charging technology by 2030. Volkswagen emphasized that it is important to significantly reduce the cost of batteries in order to spread electric vehicles to a large number of people.

At the event, Volkswagen announced that the new battery cells will be prismatic and will be replaced with all-solid batteries in the long run. Batteries for electric vehicles are divided into cylinders, pouch types, and squares according to their shape. LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation have made pouch-type batteries, Chinese CATL and Samsung SDI have made prismatic batteries, and Japanese Panasonic has made cylindrical batteries.

This raises the possibility that major battery suppliers will change in the future. It is also said that Northvolt, a Swedish battery company in partnership with Volkswagen, mainly produced prismatic batteries, and that Volkswagen made this decision. Volkswagen plans to introduce these new battery cells in 80% of all electric vehicles it produces by 2030.

In addition, Volkswagen plans to increase its own batteries through collaboration with North Volt. To this end, it plans to build battery factories in six locations in Europe by 2030. The annual output is 40GWh each, for a total of 240GWh. The joint plant will be built first in Skeleftea, Sweden and Salzgitter, Germany, and mass production will start in 2023 and 2025, respectively.

It is also planning to actively promote the expansion of the global fast charging network. In Europe, there are plans to build 18,000 public fast charging stations by 2025. To this end, it has agreed to cooperate with energy company BP (UK), Spain Iberdrola, and Italy Enel. About 400 million euros (about 540 billion won) will be invested here.

“E-Mobility (electric vehicles) has become a core business for us,” said Volkswagen CEO Herbert Dys. “We will strive to gain a long-term advantage in the competition for the best battery and the best customer experience.”