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The Volkswagen Group revealed that it will invest 7,000 million euros in its Future: Fast Forward (F3) plan to electrify its operations in Spain. This includes the award of electric models to the Volkswagen plants in Navarra and Seat in Barcelonaas well as the creation of a battery factory in the Valencian town of Sagunto.
This disbursement represents the largest industrial investment made by a company in the history of Spain and especially positive news for the Valencian Community, where automotive activity accounts for 18% of its GDP, according to data handled by AVIA, the regional cluster of automotive.
The project, which has not been presented until the Government approved the call for the Perte of the electric vehicle
(VEC) on March 18, will be the first battery factory to be built by the German consortium outside of Germany —work has already begun on one in Salzgitter— and will have an annual capacity of 40 GWh when fully operational.
The CEO of Seat, Wayne Griffithsstated that the production of the electric subcompacts of the Spanish plants is scheduled for 2025, so “they will have to hurry so that the battery plant is operational by then, or face serious logistical problems.”
The plans of the German consortium to supply its electricity offensive – it intends that half of its sales be zero emissions in 2030 – go through having a total capacity of 240 GWh per year divided into six factories in Europe. This “It will be enough for about 4.5 million vehicles”according to Volkswagen.
The Sagunto plant will provide employment, when it is at maximum capacity, to more than 3,000 people and it was chosen according to more than 100 different criteria, above other regions such as Extremadura or Aragón.
How many of those 7,000 million will go to its construction is still unknown, but the range, considering similar investments in other countries, is between 2,000 and 5,000 million euros.
For Ximo Puig, president of the Community Government, the arrival of the Sagunto factory is comparable to “the arrival of Ford Almussafes in the region in 1976”. In addition, it may mean a ray of hope for this last factory, as it is awaiting the award of two zero-emission models that guarantee its future until 2040.
To do this, Almussafes faces a rival plant, the one in Saarlouis (Germany), and both are presenting flexibility plans to the European headquarters to receive them. The construction of the Sagunto battery factory, together with the cooperation agreement that Ford has with the Volkswagen Group to develop electric vehicles in Europe, are good signs for the future of Almussafes.
new battery technology
The aim of the consortium is to develop a unified platform for battery cells, which will be available from 2023, according to the CEO of the Volkswagen Group, Herbert Diess. For electric vehicle manufacturers, finding economies of scale is essential, and these go irrevocably through the greatest possible standardization of parts.
Unveiling your strategy New Auto and 2021, Volkswagen pointed to the cost savings of the unified cells, with a maximum potential of 50% less than today. This was divided into 15% for the design of the cell, 20% for the chemistry of materials in the anode and cathode, 10% for the production process and 5% for the “concept” itself.
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