VW considers V4 countries for battery plant

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Germany’s VW is planning on building six battery factories in Europe by 2030, and one of those facilities is likely to land in one of the Visegrad 4 (“V4”) group countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland or Slovakia – but the actual decision hasn’t yet been made. Wherever the plant ends up in Central Europe, it’s scheduled to open in 2027.

VW says it’s taking each country’s economic conditions, subsidies and their strategies for electric mobility into consideration before it makes its location decision in the first half of 2022.

Despite no location having yet been chosen, on Monday senior executives from VW paid a visit to the Czech Republic to visit their Skoda subsidiary and meet with Czech deputy prime minister and minister for industry, trade and transport, Karel Havlicek.

One of the VW officials in Czechia was Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Board Member for Technology and the person responsible for battery cells and systems, who commented: “The Czech Republic is an attractive potential location for one of the six battery cell factories that Volkswagen is planning in Europe, with competitive energy and labour costs, good connections to other Eastern European Group locations and one of the largest lithium deposits in Europe.

“The decisive factor will be that the country resolutely tackles the transition to electromobility – from the changeover to renewable energies to the consistent development of charging infrastructure and the comprehensive promotion of future technologies.”

Be sure to explore CET’s previous reporting and analysis on electromobility.

Sources: Automotive News Europe, Skoda Storyboard