VW May Join German EV Battery Consortium
On Friday Volkswagen AG’s supervisory board will discuss whether the carmaker should join a German consortium that is mulling European production of battery cells for electric cars, Reuters reports.
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On Friday Volkswagen AG’s supervisory board will discuss whether the carmaker should join a government-backed German consortium that is mulling European production of battery cells for electric cars, Reuters reports.
VW currently buys battery cells from China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology and South Korea’s LG Chem. But VW CEO Herbert Diess has urged Germany to establish its own capacity to make cells.
Germany’s government has budgeted €1 billion ($1.1 billion) for the consortium to help it launch cell production and develop next-generation solid-state batteries for EVs. German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier says the aim is to locally supply 30% of Germany’s battery cell needs by 2030.
Reuters’ sources say companies expressing interest in building a cell plant in Germany include BASF, Ford Motor’s Ford Werke subsidiary and VARTA Microbattery.
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