The new factory of the German carmaker, Volkswagen, will be located in Salzgitter. It will be the home of the creation of battery cells.

VW has been heavily investing in the electric future of its cars, but to create the production line with its own materials, the only feature left is the battery cell. So far, the suppliers for the automaker are other companies that work on the matter, such as Samsung and LG.

Now, a partnership was announced with Northvolt, a Swedish startup. They will be responsible for helping Volkswagen to develop its plans to produce 22 million electric vehicles in the next 10 years.

In the next 10 years, VW plans to produce around 22 million electric vehicles between 70 new electric models.







“A pilot line for small-series battery cell production was opened at the Center of Excellence (CoE) in Salzgitter today. Some 300 experts are involved in developing, testing, and piloting innovative manufacturing technologies for the production of lithium-ion batteries. In a first step, Volkswagen is investing over €100 million in amassing its own development and production know-how. (…) Bringing together the development, testing, and pilot production of battery cells in Salzgitter marks a further milestone in the Volkswagen Group’s comprehensive electric offensive. By pooling know-how at this site, we are making sure we drive forward our own activities to further advance the development of battery cells as a key component in electrification, develop new standards and swiftly transition them to series production.”

The partner, Northvolt, was founded by former Tesla executives that were responsible for working on a gigafactory in Nevada. The company received several investments from companies and plans to build its own factory in Sweden.

The partnership plans to start operating in 2020.