The Volkswagen Group and its battery company PowerCo have selected St. Thomas in Ontario, Canada to establish Volkswagen's first overseas gigafactory for battery cell manufacturing, the German automaker said in a statement on Monday.
The gigafactory will produce sustainable unified cells, start of production is planned for 2027.
Oliver Blume, CEO Volkswagen Group said, "With the decisions for cell production in Canada and a Scout site in South Carolina we're fast-forwarding the execution of our North American strategy."
In 2021, Volkswagen revealed plans to build six battery cell production plants in Europe by 2030, including the facility in Salzgitter and one in Skelleftea, Sweden. A third plant would be established in Valencia, Spain, and the fourth factory would be based in Eastern Europe. The company is also exploring plans to build future giga factories in North America. The plants will eventually have a production capacity of 240 gigawatt-hours a year.
Volkswagen said Monday that it is driving forward the introduction of the broadest portfolio of full-electric vehicles in the United States. Group brands plan to introduce more than 25 new BEV models through 2030.
In addition to its ramped-up assembly of the all-electric ID.4 compact SUV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen also has plans to upgrade the plants in Puebla and Silao, Mexico, for the assembly of BEVs and potentially for BEV components such as electric motors in the second half of the decade.
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