Volkswagen will build a "gigafabriku" worth $ 11 billion

Brand Volkswagen is currently considering the possibility to invest $ 11 billion in the construction of a dedicated battery factory in Salzgitter. It is expected that the new factory will supply batteries for future electric company.




The well-known German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported that Volkswagen's board of directors plans to hold a vote on this matter on June 22. Such actions VW encourages the desire to be independent of the world's major manufacturers of batteries -. Panasonic, LG Chem and Samsung

The new head of Volkswagen, Matthias Mueller, said that he and his team are working on a new strategy, which is aimed at the conclusion of the consequences of the scandalous "dizelgeyta". The plan provides for an annual production of 1 million electric and hybrid vehicles by 2025. In comparison to the same level of sales head of Tesla Elon Musk she is planning to arrive in 2020

. Volkswagen's strategy relies heavily on new MEB modular chassis, which it has developed for the electric car BUDD-e presented at CES in January 2016. The new platform will support both fully electric and hybrid powertrains, which will allow Volkswagen to quickly adapt to changing customer expectations.

By 2020 in the lineup will concern 20 cars with a fully electric or hybrid power plants with the ability to recharge the batteries from a household power socket. In addition to the electric mini-bus BUDD-e, in the series must be logged supercar Porsche Mission E crossover and Audi e-tron quattro, which should be the main competitors of Tesla Model S and Model X, respectively.

At the same time, gigafabriki Tesla project will cost the company about $ 5 billion. With its help, Elon Musk is planning to increase the production of electric vehicles up to 500 000 units per year and produce 50 GWh of storage systems a year. Opening of "megazavoda" is scheduled for June 2016. To take part in the project expressed a desire to Panasonic, which invests in a factory about 1, 5 - 2 billion dollars.