Photo: Volkswagen
Electric vehicles (EVs) are growing in popularity, and while the world still faces a battery supply issue, one European automaker is officially establishing its footprint on the battery cell industry.
Volkswagen held a ground-breaking ceremony at its new Salzgitter, Germany factory, where the company will produce battery cells under its new battery company, PowerCo, as detailed in a press release on Thursday.
The press release also said that the Salzgitter battery cell factory will be the first of the six cell factories Volkswagen plans to build in Europe, set to be the starting point for a global battery market offensive.
Over $20 billion euro ($20 billion USD) will be invested into PowerCo to build EV batteries for Volkswagen’s factories worldwide. Sales potential is pegged at $20 billion euro and 20,000 jobs in Europe.
Volkswagen Sells Electrify America Minority Stake to Siemens for $450 Million https://t.co/71YHI7wgnw
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) June 28, 2022
In a statement about the ceremony, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, “Today is a good day for the automotive industry in Germany and Europe. Volkswagen is showing how the future of sustainable, climate-compatible mobility could look. Together, we are laying the foundation for shaping this future to a significant extent in Salzgitter.“
You can watch the VW battery factory announcement below:
In May, Volkswagen launched its second EV factory in Germany, located in Emden with a total of 8,000 employees and set to help produce the automaker’s popular ID.4.
Volkswagen’s ID.4 was Sweden’s best-selling vehicle in May, and it also unveiled the ID.AERO sedan for the Chinese market last month.
