VOLKSWAGEN GROUP AND POWERCO SE LAUNCH SITE SEARCHThe Volkswagen Group and its battery company PowerCo SE founded in July 2022 intend to accelerate the build-up of their global batterybusiness through rapid expansion to North America. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume and the Canadian Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry, Franois-Philippe Champagne, signed in Wolfsburg today an Addendum to the non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of August this year to identify suitable sites for a cell factory in Canada. The two parties will continue their cooperation in the areas of battery value creation, raw material supply chains and cathode material production which had been established in August. Furthermore, PowerCo and materials technology group Umicore have agreed to investigate a strategic supply agreement on cathode material for North America. In September, the two companies had announced that they would cooperate in Europe by forming a joint venture for precursor and cathode material production. ... Through the additional strategic supply agreement, the partners are extending their cooperation to Canada. The objective is to secure capacities at competitive prices as well as firm delivery agreements for cathode materials and their precursors for the future cell production of PowerCo SE. This concerns a volume of up to 40 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year in 2030, corresponding to about 550,000 all-electric vehicles. Deliveries are planned to start in 2027. ...
For the development of the cell production supply chains required in North America, PowerCo SE and Belgian materials technology group Umicore are intensifying their existing cooperation on the development of regional supply chains for sustainable battery materials. The partners today signed an MoU concerning a long-term strategic partnership to secure cathode materials for future cell production in North America.