Volkswagen to Establish Six Battery Plants in Europe

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] German automaker Volkswagen is set to establish six joint battery factories in Europe by 2030. The company announced it will equip future electric vehicles with 'prismatic' batteries instead of 'pouch-type' batteries, which is expected to deal a blow to Korean battery manufacturers that have been supplying pouch-type batteries.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 15th (local time), Volkswagen held an online 'Power Day' event and announced its technology roadmap for batteries and charging technology through 2030.

At the event, Volkswagen declared it will secure six joint battery factories with a production capacity of 40GWh each, totaling 240GWh in production capacity. Thomas Schmall, CEO of Volkswagen Components, said, "We aim to reduce battery costs while increasing range and performance."

Volkswagen plans to build factories in places such as Skellefte?, Sweden, and Salzgitter, Germany, through a joint venture with Swedish battery maker Northvolt, in which it acquired a 20% stake in 2019. Volkswagen intends to increase its stake in Northvolt to strengthen control and expand battery orders to about $14 billion by 2030.

WSJ interpreted Volkswagen's strategy as an effort to secure battery supply lines and increase control over technology.

Since Volkswagen is switching from existing pouch-type batteries to integrated prismatic batteries and aims to transition to solid-state batteries in the long term, the supply volume from Korean companies is expected to decrease. Among Korean companies, LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation supply pouch-type batteries to Volkswagen.

Additionally, Volkswagen announced a strategy to install 18,000 public fast-charging stations in Europe by 2025.

Currently, most automakers except Tesla do not operate their own charging infrastructure. Volkswagen plans to cooperate with European power companies such as Spain's Iberdrola and Italy's Enel to install public fast-charging stations and intends to invest about 400 million euros.

Earlier, Volkswagen's subsidiary, Electrify America, announced goals to install 3,500 electric vehicle charging stations in North America and establish 17,000 fast-charging stations in China.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.