Volkswagen starts pilot for production of its own battery cells

Volkswagen has started producing its own battery cells for electric cars in Salzgitter, Germany. It is still a production line that is part of a pilot, but this should eventually lead to a large battery cell factory.

According to Frank Blome, the director of Volkswagen division Center of Excellence for Battery Cells, this test production line is an important step towards a gigafactory in Salzgitter. This factory is part of a joint venture the German carmaker has formed with the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, a start-up of former Tesla manager Peter Carlsson. Construction of this 16GWh plant in Salzgitter is set to start next year, with production to start in late 2023 or early 2024. At the beginning of next year, a pilot should also be launched that focuses on the recycling of batteries.

Salzgitter brings together development, testing and pilot production, involving lithium-ion batteries. To this end, 300 employees are employed by Volkswagen, which will gradually be supplemented by 700 new employees for the joint venture. Volkswagen is investing 900 million euros in the battery activities that it carries out jointly with Northvolt and also invests 100 million euros in increasing production knowledge and battery development.

Earlier, German media speculated that Volkswagen’s current Asian battery cell suppliers would cancel contracts with the German manufacturer if Volkswagen invested a billion euros in its own battery production facility in Salzgitter. Thomas Ulbrich, a top executive of the car manufacturer, denied that. He indicated that on the basis of signed contracts with Asian suppliers, there will in any case be enough battery cells available until 2023; what the situation will be after that is still uncertain. This will also have played a role in Volkswagen’s decision to also focus on its own production capacity.