According to Reuters, the company made the announcement on Thursday at a groundbreaking ceremony for its first European battery factory in Salzgitter.
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Volkswagen’s global battery production and research – from raw material extraction to recycling and projects including energy storage systems – will be managed by a division called The PowerCo. Volkswagen is also exploring the possibility of building its own battery cell factories in North America.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also took part in the ceremonial act of laying the foundation stone in the state of Lower Saxony. “Today is a good day for the automotive industry in Germany,” said Scholz.
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“Today we are not only laying the foundation stone, but also marking a strategic milestone. The battery cell business is one of the cornerstones of our new strategy to make Volkswagen the leading provider of sustainable, software-controlled mobility of tomorrow. The establishment of our own cell factory is a megaproject from a technical and economic point of view,” said Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen Group.
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Volkswagen has repeatedly stated that producing enough batteries to power all of its cars is by far the biggest challenge of the transition to electromobility. The company presented a plan to build factories with a combined capacity of 240 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2030. This includes six plants in Europe and two in North America.
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Salzgitter should gradually be able to produce 40 GWh annually and thus equip over half a million electric cars. A similar performance is expected for the other five car battery factories in Europe.
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In addition to Salzgitter, the plan for the construction of factories is also confirmed in the Swedish city of Skellefteå and in Valencia, Spain. Germany and Eastern European countries, among others, are interested in the other three locations for the production of batteries, the DPA agency reminded.
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