Now the that entire “Ought to Herbert Diess keep or go?” kerfluffle is finally over — at the least for now — Volkswagen has made a number of bulletins up to now few days about the way it plans to choose up the tempo of its transition to manufacturing electrical automobiles and vehicles. On December 8, it reported it has signed 3 strategic partnerships that can assist strengthen its battery expertise know-how and value administration whereas growing the vertical integration of its battery worth chain.
Umicore, 24M, & Vulcan Vitality
The partnership with Umicore, a world supplies and recycling firm based mostly within the Netherlands, will provide Volkswagen’s battery factories in Europe with superior cathode supplies. Umicore will ramp up its manufacturing capability to the purpose the place it’s supplying sufficient cathodes to the Salzgitter manufacturing unit for 20 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries by 2025. The last word objective is to succeed in annual manufacturing capability of as much as 160 GWh by the top of the last decade — sufficient to energy roughly 2.2 million electrical automobiles.
The partnership will examine subsequent era battery applied sciences and work to safe responsibly sourced uncooked supplies at aggressive costs. Shut cooperation to foster value optimization actions and improve efficiencies in manufacturing processes are additionally on the agenda. Battery recycling applied sciences can even be on the partnership’s agenda.
24M Applied sciences, based mostly in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a by-product enterprise from MIT. It’s a pioneer in semi-solid-state battery expertise that started shipping its first products in 2019. Volkswagen has determined to spend money on the corporate to assist industrialize its expertise, which is a semi-solid course of that represents an development of the dry coating course of used to fabricate automotive batteries immediately. The objective is to decrease the price of manufacturing batteries by lowering materials utilization and eliminating a number of steps from the standard manufacturing course of.
Potential advantages embody as much as 40% much less manufacturing space, appreciable financial savings on funding, extra environment friendly product recycling, in addition to the discount of the CO2 footprint of battery manufacturing. Implementing the method in large-scale manufacturing is focused for the second half of the last decade.
Lastly, Volkswagen has inked a long run partnership settlement with Vulcan Energy to provide lithium hydroxide over a 5-year interval starting in 2026. Vulcan is presently creating a undertaking to provide CO2-free lithium within the Higher Rhine Valley from lithium-rich geothermal brine. Its Zero Carbon Lithium undertaking goals to ascertain a sustainable and regional supply of lithium from Europe’s largest deposit. The manufacturing course of doesn’t require fossil fuels or evaporation ponds. The partnership will assist Volkswagen meet the demand for in-house, emissions-free cell manufacturing in Germany and different European nations.
The Newest 5-Yr Plan
Additionally this week, Volkswagen revealed Planning Round 70, a highway map of the place the corporate expects to be in 5 years. The plan is represented by the graphic on the prime of this web page. Listed below are the details of the brand new plan:
- Along with Zwickau and Emden, extra European websites to be electrified.
- Wolfsburg, the Group headquarters and a producing web site, can be reworked: partial manufacturing of the ID.Three from 2023 agreed; affirmation that Mission Trinity can be carried out from 2026 onward.
- At EUR 89 billion, investments in future areas will make up over half of whole CAPEX for the primary time.
- VW Group confirms working margin goal on the higher finish of the vary of 6–7.5% for 2021, deliveries of round 9 million automobiles anticipated, adjusted web money stream for the Automotive Division of €15 billion is for certain to be achieved.
The plan is dense and detailed. In order for you the total skinny, please observe the hyperlink above. In essence, it outlines plans to convey electrical automotive manufacturing to many of the firm’s factories. Listed below are some particulars:
The Group will make investments round €21 billion at its crops in Decrease Saxony alone, most of which can be channeled into manufacturing websites and parts services.
- Within the medium time period, Hanover will go all-electric, beginning a modernization of the positioning. The Group’s presently most essential forward-looking undertaking can be arrange in Hanover, the place the primary Artemis car can be produced. Physique manufacturing for a brand new Bentley mannequin has additionally been confirmed. One other car by-product, the ID. California, has likewise been accepted for the positioning. As well as, Hanover will spearhead autonomous driving within the Group with the MOIA shuttles and the ID. BUZZ AD1.
- Electrification of the Wolfsburg plant by means of Mission Trinity has been confirmed. Given the robust demand for electrical automobiles, the Group additionally plans to re-equip the positioning for full manufacturing of the ID.Three from 2024, guaranteeing profitability with a web site bundle. Earlier than 2024, partial manufacturing with provides from Zwickau is envisaged. This plan will enable the Group to service further market volumes that Zwickau alone can be unable to deal with because of the good long-term capability utilization forecasts.
- The German part crops will proceed the transformation to e-mobility they initiated in 2015. Together with {hardware} for charging infrastructure, the Hanover plant can even produce axles for MEB fashions. In Braunschweig, Salzgitter and Kassel, the Group will spend money on increasing the prevailing MEB manufacturing of battery programs, rotors/stators and electrical motors. As well as, the crops are already getting ready to fabricate key parts of the SSP platform. Volkswagen is thus taking the subsequent step in its strategic growth right into a key supplier of electrical modules and platforms.
- The Salzgitter web site can be additional expanded right into a European battery hub. The Group will make investments round EUR 2 billion to provide Volkswagen’s unified cell for the amount phase at its gigafactory in Decrease Saxony from 2025. Growth, planning and management of the battery manufacturing can even be introduced collectively in Salzgitter. To this finish, the Supervisory Board immediately accepted the institution of a European firm that can mix all the Group’s battery-related actions and facilitate third-party involvement sooner or later. The brand new firm can even oversee the strategic partnerships with Umicore, 24M, and Vulcan Vitality agreed this week.
Sharp-eyed readers will notice within the paragraph in regards to the Hanover plant that there’s a reference to the ID. California. What kind of beast is that this? It seems the ID. Buzz will spawn a camper variant just like the one accessible immediately in lots of elements of the world (however not in California!) The corporate has not introduced any particulars aside from it will likely be constructed on the manufacturing unit in Hanover. Value? Availability? All unknown. Keep tuned.
Porsche IPO?
There’s a rumor going round that Volkswagen Group may contemplate spinning off Porsche as a solution to increase the funds wanted to pay for the investments referred to as for by Planning Spherical 70. In response to The Guardian, estimates for what Porsche may very well be value as a standalone firm vary between €45 billion and €90 billion.
The Porsche and Piëch households are contemplating promoting a part of their stake in Volkswagen to fund a considerable shareholding in a doable Porsche IPO. The households personal 31.4% of Volkswagen shares and management 53.3% of voting rights by way of Porsche SE. They may promote sufficient shares to lift roughly €15 billion, in response to Handelsblatt. They might stay the biggest shareholder in Volkswagen, Handelsblatt added, forward of the state of Decrease Saxony, which holds a 11.8% fairness stake and 20% of voting rights.
A spokesperson for Porsche SE referred to as the report “pure hypothesis” whereas Volkswagen declined to remark. Does that imply there may be substance to the rumor? You guess is pretty much as good as ours.
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