VW Pumps Brakes On EV Battery Factory Expansion in North America and Europe
A few years ago, Volkswagen announced that it would build six battery production facilities worldwide by 2030, but the automaker is walking back some of those plans as EV demand isn’t growing as quickly as expected.
Company Chief Technology Officer Thomas Schmall told a German newspaper that, “The expansion of the plants will depend on how the market for e-cars develops.”
The pullback will impact planned expansions of facilities in North America and Europe. In Canada, Schmall said VW had shifted its goals away from multiple battery facilities in favor of a single, large factory in Ontario.
Schmall also noted that VW could further expand facilities in Canada and Spain to meet demand, but those moves are unconfirmed at this time. He wouldn’t elaborate on the types of batteries produced in those locations, but lower-cost lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries could be part of the equation.
Though it is slowing its expansion plans, VW is still pressing forward with solid-state battery development. Schmall confirmed that the automaker would begin producing the batteries before the end of the decade, which will bring a higher energy density and smaller battery packs to new EVs.
Volkswagen is not the first to shift its production ambitions in light of disappointing EV demand. Ford, which announced massive losses on its EV business unit, has pulled back on factories in Kentucky and Tennessee, and other companies have eyed hybrids as a stand-in for battery-electric models.
[Images: Volkswagen]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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