A battery cell factory that can generate up to 24 gigawatt hours is to be built at the Rhineland-Palatinate site by 2024.
(Photo: AP)
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Munich Opel boss Michael Lohscheller likes to describe himself privately as a “humble person” who comes from a humble background. But deep stacking is not his job. When the manager flashed his plans to build a battery cell factory in front of politicians at the brand’s engine and component plant last Friday, the superlatives bubbled out of his mouth.
“A real project of the century is emerging here in Kaiserslautern,” rejoiced Lohscheller. It is “not an exaggeration” to speak of a “Giga Factory”.
The reason: Opel wants to invest two billion euros in the Palatinate with federal support to produce battery cells for electric cars in Germany’s largest plant of this type by 2024.
The factory, a joint project with the parent company PSA and the French battery manufacturer Saft, is to have a capacity of 24 gigawatt hours. According to Opel, that would be enough to equip around half a million cars with energy storage systems every year. Around 2,000 jobs are to be created.
The project is under the umbrella of a European funding program with which the EU wants to reduce the dependency of domestic industry on Asian cell manufacturers. Competitor Volkswagen is also determined to supply itself with battery cells more in the future and is expanding its battery plans.
In Salzgitter, the world’s largest carmaker originally wanted to build a factory with ‧a capacity of 16 gigawatt hours together with the Swedish battery specialist Northvolt; now, as with Opel in Kaiserslautern, it will even be 24 gigawatt hours.
“Herculean task for German car manufacturers”
In order to be successful even in the age of electromobility, one has to remain technologically independent, emphasizes Opel boss Lohscheller. In-house battery cell production is an extremely important component. “The goal is as simple as it is demanding: We want to manufacture the world’s best, most efficient and most environmentally friendly battery cells here in the Palatinate. With high reliability. For long vehicle ranges, ”said Lohscheller.
Although experts praise Opel and VW’s commitment in the battery cell area, they doubt the profitability of their projects. “It will be a herculean task for German car manufacturers to catch up with their cell technology and manufacturing deficit compared to the Asian competition,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management.
In the long term, Opel and VW should also be able to keep up with the prices of CATL cells from China or LG Chem from South Korea. “This is not a sure-fire success,” says Bratzel.
Given the technological backlog, the risk of failure cannot be ruled out. And if it doesn’t work, Bratzel warns, “you will lose billions”.
More: The carmaker’s sales continue to shrink. Now Opel is taking personal consequences and has appointed a new Germany boss.
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