From Reuters article - 'Volkswagen takes aim at Tesla with own European gigafactories.'
Volkswagen takes aim at Tesla with own European gigafactories | Reuters
Most of this article shows the show the quickly changing EV landscape. I am not proposing that Volkswagen's strategy is going to dominate. But is does demonstrate what one of QS's investors is doing to insure they are a winner in the EV market place
Volkswagen growth strategy
· First 40 GWh would come from Sweden’s Northvolt, with production starting in 2023.
· Then will raise its 20% stake in Northvolt and also take over the Swedish firm’s stake in a planned battery cell venture in the German city of Salzgitter, which will form the second factory from 2025.
· Followed by a factory in Spain, France or Portugal in 2026
· Then additions somewhere in Poland, Slovakia or the Czech Republic by 2027
· Finally, two more plants will be set up by 2030.
Fast-charging points:
· Partnerships with oil major BP as well as top European utilities Enel and Iberdrola, Volkswagen aims to operate about 18,000 public fast-charging points in Europe by 2025.
· In North America, Volkswagen targets 3,500 fast-charging points by the end of 2021 via its Electrify America unit,
· while in China, the world’s largest car market, the group aims for 17,000 by 2025.
About battery tech:
Shifting to design, Volkswagen unveiled plans to have a new unified prismatic battery cell from 2023, which will support cost cuts generated by the higher level of in-house cell production and could impact its current suppliers.
· Electric vehicle makers, including Tesla, are using cylindrical battery cells, which resemble flashlight batteries and are relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
· Prismatic cells, which resemble a thin hardcover book, are housed in a rectangular metal case and are more expensive.
· Pouch cells, another alternative, are thinner and lighter, and resemble a flexible metal mailing envelope.
Someone needs to check me on this but I believe QS’s development centers around ‘Pouch Cells’ |
