According to Reuters' sources, Volkswagen has also made new partnerships with SK Innovation, a South Korean battery cell manufacturer, and Ford. Reuters reported last month that VW and Ford had been in exploratory talks to develop self-driving electric vehicles.

Following the embarrassing Dieselgate scandal in which Volkswagen cheated emissions tests, the European Union and the German government have put a lot of pressure on the automaker to right its wrong. Already cities are banning diesel engines, putting manufacturing jobs at risk. Volkswagen has out significant effort in the EV space, outpacing many of its rivals. But even with this ambitious electric push, shifting production from combustion engines to electric motors will cost VW 14,000 jobs by 2020 for EVs take less time to produce and battery manufacturing will shift overseas.