VW Researching Battery Development at German Engine Plant

The question of where Volkswagen will get the batteries that power its upcoming fleet of electric cars has been a topic of interest for some time now, and the company is now getting closer to an answer.

Germany’s Westfalische Nachrichten reports that VW’s Salzgitter engine plant will be used for battery research and operations.

“We assume that the battery will account for 40 percent of the value of a car in the future,” Bernd Osterloh, head of VW’s labour union told the newspaper. “The question is whether we want to be completely dependent on manufacturers from Asia. I say that as unions and works councils, we do not want this at all.“

The question of how to get batteries for electric cars weighs heavy on the minds of many automakers. Buying, producing, and selling are all appealing for different reasons, but with VW’s intention to produce 30 electric models, totaling 2 to 3 million in sales, the case for making its own batteries is strong.

Moreover, the strength of its unions means that finding jobs for its German employees is also appealing to VW.

Volkswagen showed its first all-electric concept car, based on the all-electric MEB platform, at the Paris Auto Show in late 2016. Since then it also premiered the the I.D. Buzz in Detroit, and plans for an electric SUV and an electric sedan are also in the works.

The automaker’s other brands, meanwhile, have also shown electric cars, like Audi’s e-tron and Prosche’s Mission-E. Those two brands have also revealed that they will work together on an electric platform.

[source: insideevs]

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