VW to launch high-voltage battery production in China
The initial annual capacity is between 150,000 and 180,000 units, according to Volkswagen Group China. This means that the battery assembly capacity is lower than that of the vehicle plant, which is designed for up to 350,000 MEB vehicles per year. Among other things, Volkswagen will build the Cupra Tavascan SUV coupé planned for 2024 in Anhui and also export it to Europe.
However, there is talk of an “initial annual production capacity” for battery assembly. The plant could therefore be expanded at a later date to meet the needs of the vehicle plant. As Volkswagen does not assemble the batteries itself at the other Chinese MEB plants in Anting (SAIC-VW) and Foshan (FAW-VW), the new VWAC plant is “the Volkswagen Group’s first wholly-owned battery system factory in China”. The commissioning of the system is a new milestone in the Volkswagen Group’s strategy to develop Hefei into a centre for intelligently networked electric vehicles and another important step in the Group’s “In China, for China” strategy, according to the press release.
The MEB battery system built there still relies on the classic concept: production robots and employees assemble several cell modules with other components such as controllers, battery management and cabling to create a ready-to-install battery pack. 96 per cent of the components required for battery production are to be sourced from the local area.
However, the Group is already holding out the prospect of the next development step for battery assembly: in future, VWAC will also produce cell-to-pack battery packs with the Group’s standard cells, which are being developed together with Gotion High-Tech. VWAC will be the first Group subsidiary to build cell-to-pack systems. However, VW has not specified when and in which model the CtP battery will be used.
The battery assembly plant covers 45,000 square meters, and the buildings and facilities were constructed within twelve months. VW also praises the implementation at “Hefei speed”.
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