In order to ensure that the future sprint for electrification transformation avoids the crisis of electric supply shortage, the Volkswagen Group is accelerating the pace of construction of its European battery supply chain.

　　Recently, the Volkswagen Group has reached a strategic partnership with Umicore, a lithium battery material company, 24M Technologies, a semi-solid battery company, and Vulcan Energy, a lithium salt product supplier, to promote the vertical integration of the battery value chain and help Volkswagen achieve power battery research and development and volume. Produce.

　　In March this year, the Volkswagen Group announced its battery and charging technology route plan to 2030 on the first "Power Day (Battery Day)".

　　According to the plan, Volkswagen will begin mass production of its "standard batteries" in 2023, covering 80% of the Volkswagen Group's electric vehicles by 2030; by 2030, Volkswagen will also build 6 battery super factories worldwide , With a total production capacity of 240GWh.

　　Volkswagen plans to take the lead in producing batteries at its Salzgitter plant, with an initial planned production capacity of 20GWh, and plans to reach an annual production capacity of 160GWh by 2030.

　　To achieve the above goals, Volkswagen and Umicore will establish a joint venture to jointly produce precursor materials and cathode materials in Europe, and supply cathode materials to Volkswagen's power battery plants in Europe.

　　Volkswagen hopes to reach a cooperation with Umicore to obtain a more stable and cost-effective source of supply of cathode materials, and plans to cooperate with Umicore in battery recycling.

　　In addition, the Volkswagen Group has also signed a cooperation agreement with Vulcan Energy. From 2026 to 2030, the latter will supply lithium hydroxide to Volkswagen to ensure a stable supply of lithium salt products at Volkswagen’s European battery plants.

　　Through the above layout, Volkswagen plans to establish an advanced lithium battery vertically integrated supply chain in Europe to help Volkswagen achieve mass production of power batteries in Europe and reduce battery costs.

　　In terms of accelerating battery research and development, Volkswagen will take a stake in the American semi-solid battery company 24M Technologies. The two parties will further develop battery technology for electric vehicles based on 24M’s technology and realize the commercialization of 24’s battery technology.

　　It is reported that 24M Technology Company announced in February 2019 the development and delivery of commercially viable high-energy density lithium batteries with an energy density of more than 250 Wh/kg. At the same time, 24M technology plans to increase its battery energy density to 350wh/kg or even more than 400Wh/kg.

　　In 2021, 24M Technology signed a license agreement with the Norwegian start-up battery company Freyr. The 24M Technology will grant Freyr the right to produce lithium batteries based on 24M’s current and all future technologies.

　　At the same time, the Volkswagen Group also invested 300 million US dollars (1.965 billion RMB) in the US solid-state battery company QuantumScape, becoming its largest automotive shareholder and helping the latter realize mass production and application of solid-state battery technology.

　　At present, Volkswagen has established a battery business segment, which aims to optimize the batteries used in the group's electric vehicles in the future through cooperation with suppliers. This optimization work includes from increasing production capacity to expanding the scope of production, from reducing the use of scarce raw materials, optimizing sustainable production processes to battery recycling and so on.

　　It is worth noting that, in order to accelerate the company’s own battery production, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Dies recently stated that the company is preparing to partially sell or go public on the battery sector and prepare the battery sector for the capital market, including Introduce external partners.