VW assigns 20 billion euros in battery orders, signalling EV push

Automaker Volkswagen is ramping up for its big EV push, with €20 billion (£18 billion) committed in battery supplies and plans to outfit 16 factories to build electric cars by the end of 2022, compared with three currently.

The German manufacturer’s plans to build as many as 3 million of the cars a year by 2025 is backstopped by deals with suppliers including Samsung SDI Co., LG Chem Ltd. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. for batteries in Europe and China.

The automaker still intends to lock down a North American battery supplier deal shortly, however, according to Bloomberg, and ultimately intends to buy about €48 billion (£43 billion) in batteries for EVs in total, with a goal of producing as many as 3 million electric cars per year by 2025.

In total, the Wolfsburg-based automaker has said it plans to purchase about €50 billion (£44 billion) in batteries as part of its electric-car push, which includes three new models in 2018 with dozens more following.

Volkswagen’s battery plans compare to Tesla’s $17.5 billion worth of purchase obligations, primarily related to buying lithium-ion cells from Panasonic, according to a recent filing. Volkswagen called its battery tender one of the biggest purchasing initiatives in the auto industry.

As of next year, the 12-brand group will roll out a new battery-powered model “virtually every month,” Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller said at the company’s annual press conference. “This is how we intend to offer the largest fleet of electric vehicles in the world.”