Volkswagen has laid the foundation stone for its first own cell factory in Salzgitter. Production is scheduled to start in 2025. Responsibility for the global battery business will be borne by the newly formed company PowerCo, which will be responsible for activities along the entire battery value chain in addition to cell production.
By 2030, PowerCo, together with partners, is to invest more than 20 billion euros in the development of the business field, generate annual sales of more than 20 billion euros and employ up to 20,000 people in Europe alone. The company will be managed by CEO Frank Blome and Board Members Sebastian Wolf (Chief Operations Officer), Kai Alexander Müller (Chief Financial Officer), Soonho Ahn (Chief Technology Officer), Jörg Teichmann (Chief Purchasing Officer) and Sebastian Krapoth (Chief Human Resources Officer).
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said with regard to the groundbreaking ceremony: “Today is a good day for the automotive industry in Germany and Europe. Volkswagen is showing how the future of sustainable, climate-compatible mobility could look. Together, we are laying the foundation for shaping this future to a significant extent in Salzgitter.”
“Today we are not only laying a foundation stone but also marking a strategic milestone,” added Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen, continuing: “The battery cell business is one of the cornerstones of our NEW AUTO strategy which will make Volkswagen a leading provider of the sustainable, software-driven mobility of tomorrow. Establishing our own cell factory is a megaproject in technical and economic terms.”
Salzgitter is a central location for Volkswagen’s electromobility strategy with a battery research centre that was opened last year, as well as another battery factory built in cooperation with Northvolt. Recently, a cooperation was announced with the Chinese equipment supplier LEAD, who provided battery manufacturing equipment for a capacity of 20 GWh, with plans to potentially grow from there.
Keyword: Volkswagen begins construction of battery cell factory