Volkswagen is considering producing its own solid state battery cells with possible serial production from 2024 or 2025, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
"We must not make ourselves dependent on a few Asian manufacturers in the long term," VW CEO Herbert Diess was quoted by Reuters as saying after the group reported second-quarter results.
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He added advances in ceramic separators had raised the viability of mass production of solid state batteries.
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A solid state battery factory would likely be in Europe or even in Germany under the right conditions, Diess said.
Reuters noted currently the industry sources its requirements from Asian manufacturers such as CATL which plans to build its first European production site in Germany.
For the first half of the year VW Group posted record figures for deliveries, sales revenue and earnings (before special items). In the period from January to June, sales revenue rose from EUR115.3bn to EUR 119.4bn year-on-year. H1 operating profit before special items increased from EUR8.9bn to EUR9.8bn (with expenditures of EUR 1.6bn in connection with the diesel crisis booked in Q2).
