Cheap battery components for VW electric cars are to be produced in Poland. The new joint venture Ionway, which Volkswagen founded with the Belgian group Umicore, will build its first production facility in the city of Nysa (Neiße) in the south of the country, VW battery subsidiary PowerCo announced on Saturday. The aim is cheaper production that “makes electric cars affordable for everyone,” said Ionway boss Thomas Jansseune, according to the statement.
Umicore already operates a production facility in Nysa. The VW plant is now being built right next to it. Production is scheduled to start in 2025. 900 jobs are expected to be created by 2030. A total of 1.7 billion euros will be invested. Poland is supporting the settlement with 350 million euros as part of an EU program to deal with the crisis and shape change.
The factory will produce the cathode material that VW can use to equip its electric car batteries. In addition, Ionway also wants to supply the associated precursor materials. Another plant is to be built for this purpose, for which a location is still being sought. The joint venture between VW and Umicore wants to supply materials for 2.2 million electric cars per year. This should cover a large part of the needs for VW’s planned battery factories in Europe.
