Volkswagen establishes battery subsidiary to integrate battery value chain_

Volkswagen establishes battery subsidiary to integrate battery value chain_

Volkswagen established a European battery company, Société Européenne, to integrate business in the battery value chain-from raw material processing to the development of unified Volkswagen batteries to the management of European battery super factories. The company's business scope will also include a new business model: recycling discarded car batteries and recycling valuable battery raw materials.

Volkswagen is expanding its battery-related business and making it one of its core competitiveness. Under the management of Frank Blome, the owner of the Volkswagen Battery, Soonho Ahn will lead the development of the battery. Soonho Ahn served as the head of global battery development at Apple. Before this, he worked at LG and Samsung.

Thomas Schmall, member of the Volkswagen Technical Management Committee and CEO of Volkswagen Group Components, is responsible for the internal production of batteries, charging and energy, and components. He said, "We want to provide customers with powerful, inexpensive, and sustainable car batteries, which means we need to be active in all stages of the battery value chain, which is critical to success."

Volkswagen plans to build six battery factories in Europe to meet the growing demand for batteries. The Gigafactory in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony, Germany, will produce uniform batteries for the mass production department of the Volkswagen Group. Volkswagen plans to invest 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in the construction and operation of the plant until the plant is put into production. It is expected that the plant will provide 2500 jobs in the future.

Volkswagen's battery plant in Lower Saxony, Germany, will start production in 2025. The plant's annual battery production capacity will reach 20 GWh in the initial stage. Later, Volkswagen plans to double the plant's yearly battery production capacity to 40 GWh. Volkswagen's plant in Lower Saxony, Germany, will centralize R&D, planning, and production control under one roof so that the plant will become the battery center of the Volkswagen Group.

Volkswagen also plans to build two more battery super factories in Spain and Eastern Europe. It will decide the location of these two battery super factories in the first half of 2022. Volkswagen also plans to open two more battery factories in Europe by 2030.

In addition to the five battery super factories mentioned above, the Swedish battery start-up Northvolt, in which Volkswagen holds a 20% stake, will build Volkswagen's sixth battery factory in Skelleftea in northern Sweden. The factory will start producing batteries for Volkswagen's high-end cars in 2023.