At a time when the global supply chain is in chaos, coupled with the superimposed impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war, many manufacturers have noticed the importance of putting key components under their control. Car dealers are no exception, especially the battery of electric vehicles is a top priority. The VW (Volkswagen) group announced the establishment of a new company “PowerCo” to manufacture batteries for the group’s cars, and earlier held a ground-breaking ceremony for the new plant in Salzgitter, near Hannover, northern Germany.

In addition to manufacturing the batteries needed by the VW Group, PowerCo will also develop its own battery-related technologies and seek battery applications beyond automobiles, such as building battery backup systems for the grid. 

Once the Salzgitter plant is in production, PowerCo plans to build a second plant in Valencia, Spain, and then three other battery plants in Europe and possibly even North America. If all six plants are activated, PowerCo expects to produce 240GWh per year, enough to power around 6 million electric vehicles, and all European plants will be powered by 100% renewable energy.

All factories will be highly standardized, from equipment, buildings, infrastructure, to products, production processes and IT, to facilitate the faster deployment of new products and innovations to all factories in the future. The Salzgitter factory is expected to start commercial operation in 2025, and can produce 40GWh of batteries per year (about 500,000 EVs) and provide 5,000 new local jobs.