Germany’s Volkswagen AG announced on Wednesday it plans to expand its Chathanooga, Tennessee factory, to make electric vehicle cells, battery packs and also assemble electric vehicles as well.
The move means U.S. production for Volkswagen EVs, with a new laboratory in Chattanooga to develop, test EV cells and battery packs for its upcoming electric cars in America.
Volkswagen says its battery cells made by SKI in Georgia will be used to build electric cars in Chattanooga.
“There are two ways that auto companies approach the development of electric vehicle batteries,” said Wolfgang Maluche, Vice President of Engineering at Volkswagen of America, in a statement. “A lot of them will farm out the development and testing of batteries to another company, and some will actually do the work of developing and testing in-house. We are doing the latter.”
The new lab at Volkswagen‘s Engineering and Planning Center in Chattanooga is slated to be operational by spring 2021. The company says its new lab will have a custom multi-axis shaker table (MAST), geared towards stress testing electric vehicle batteries in rough conditions.
Volkswagen says its MAST was designed in-house, and the lab will be only the second location in the U.S. of this size, with supports buried 12 feet under the ground.
“The future of driving is coming to Chattanooga. We have the chance to help shape how Volkswagen and the entire automotive industry engineers electric vehicles to be as safe and sustainable as possible,” said Jason Swager, the Director of Electrical Development.
