Volkswagen China chief in talks with five potential battery cell providers

Volkswagen wants to expand its base of battery cell providers in China beyond CATL and is in talks with five companies to see if they can meet quality and volume requirements for the multi-brand group.

“We are collaborating with five battery cell suppliers qualifying them to group level. With one or two of them it may lead to more close cooperation. In China we have selected to do this with Chinese players,” stated Stephan Woellenstein (55), CEO of Volkswagen China Passenger Cars, in Shanghai.

The push to broaden the company’s supplier base decreases VW Group’s dependency on CATL as its major provider, Woellenstein stated at the Shanghai Auto Show.

Volkswagen requires 160 Gigawatt hours of battery cell capacity as part of a mass production push into electric vehicles, Woellenstein stated.