Volkswagen’s first North American gigafactory will likely be in Canada

Volkswagen introduced that its first gigafactory in North America will likely be positioned within the metropolis of St. Thomas within the Canadian province of Ontario. By establishing a battery plant in North America, Volkswagen hopes to fulfill a serious requirement to allow its EVs to be eligible for the US federal tax credit score of $7,500.

In line with VW, the St. Thomas plant “will equip the Group model’s BEVs within the area with cutting-edge battery cells.” The corporate signed a memorandum of understanding with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s authorities final August that focuses on “battery worth creation and uncooked materials safety in an effort to promote e-mobility within the nation.”

In 2021, VW unveiled plans to construct six battery cell manufacturing crops in Europe by 2030, together with the ability in Salzgitter and one in Skelleftea, Sweden. A 3rd plant is underneath development in Valencia, Spain, and the fourth manufacturing facility will likely be based mostly in Jap Europe. The crops will finally have a manufacturing capability of 240 gigawatt-hours a 12 months.

Beginning in 2023, VW plans to roll out a brand new unified prismatic cell design of its batteries that will likely be put in throughout the automaker’s manufacturers. The purpose is to have this unified cell design powering as much as 80 p.c of VW’s electrical autos by 2030. VW additionally has contracts with two different main battery producers, Samsung and CATL. And the corporate is backing a startup based mostly in San Jose, California, QuantumScape, which is engaged on extra energy-efficient solid-state batteries.

VW can also be constructing electrical vans and SUVs underneath its new Scout model, with a particular deal with American automotive consumers. The corporate lately introduced plans to construct a car meeting plant in South Carolina. In a press release, The automaker’s EV lineup for North America consists solely of the ID.4 SUV. Quickly to be launched embrace the ID.7 sedan and ID Buzz electrical minivan. VW Group CEO Oliver Blume stated the Ontario gigafactory will likely be essential to that effort.

“Our North American technique is a key precedence in our 10-point-plan that we’ve laid out final 12 months,” Blume stated. “With the choices for cell manufacturing in Canada and a Scout web site in South Carolina, we’re fast-forwarding the execution of our North American technique.”

The manufacturing facility can also be a part of a bunch of latest EV amenities which might be anticipated to come back on-line within the coming years. Globally, battery manufacturing is anticipated to develop from 95.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in 2020 to 410.5 GWh in 2024, in response to GlobalData, a knowledge and analytics firm.