Volkswagen Hikes Battery Cell demand in EV Expansion Push: Sources

By Jan Schwartz and Christoph Steitz

The supply chain update is part of the world’s second-largest carmaker’s strategy to raise the share of fully electric vehicles in Europe to more than 70% by 2030 at its core brand, details of which were unveiled last week.

So far, Volkswagen, which sources batteries from LG Chem, Samsung SDI, SK Innovation and CATL, expects annual demand in Europe to be more than 150 GWh from 2025 and to be at a similar level in Asia.

Chief Executive Herbert Diess and Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen’s board member in charge of technology, will unveil details of its battery and charging infrastructure strategy during a Power Day scheduled for March 15, the people said.

Volkswagen declined to comment.

The fresh target comes as Volkswagen accelerates its push into electric mobility to close a gap with Tesla, efforts that have led the group’s preferred stock price to hit its highest level in nearly six years this week.

“We think both Tesla and Volkswagen are at the forefront, in different areas though. Tesla is clearly leading on the battery side, including the battery pack integration in the vehicle,” UBS analyst Patrick Hummel told journalists this week.

“But Volkswagen has put what we think is the best scalable EV platform on the road. Very cost efficient and really covering all segments from compact cars to large SUVs.”

(Reporting by Jan Schwartz and Christoph Steitz, Editing by Douglas Busvine and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)