During the ‘Power Day’, an event where Volkswagen exposed all the plans on electrification, the brand announced that they will cut the cost of the batteries of their electric cars by half from 2023.
Volkswagen have set themselves the goal of lowering the cost of batteries, by up to 50% in their small electric cars and by up to 30% in high-volume and higher-segment cars. According to Thomas Schmall, a member of the Technology Council of the Volkswagen Group, this is one of the keys to making electric mobility finally “affordable and the dominant driving technology”.
The German firm pointed out that the price of batteries will be “well below” 100 euros per kWh.
This reduction in the cost of batteries will be possible thanks to the new unified cells that will be used with structural batteries. The new cell will be launched in 2023 and by 2030 they will be equipped in eight out of 10 Volkswagen Group electric vehicles (including all brands).
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According to the German manufacturer, they will be able to save costs by optimizing the type of cell, applying innovative production methods and making intensive use of recycling. The most important source of savings will be the anode and cathode raw materials themselves, which will reduce the cost by 20%.
The cell design will save another 15%, while production will reduce the price by another 10% thanks to more efficient processes and economies of scale.
Production increase in Europe
The Volkswagen Group will give a strong boost to battery production in Europe to have a total of six cell factories in operation in the old continent by 2030, thus guaranteeing security and regularity in supply.
The first two factories will go into operation in Skellefteå (Sweden) and in Salzgitter (Germany). The Swedish factory, which Volkswagen will run in collaboration with Northvolt, will come into operation in 2023 and will concentrate the bulk of production, which will gradually expand to reach an annual capacity of up to 40 GWh.
In addition to the two mentioned, Volkswagen will build a factory in Western Europe (in Spain, France or Portugal, according to Thomas Schmall); another in Eastern Europe; and two more whose location has not yet been announced.
Written by | Gabriel Sayago
