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PowerCo, the new battery company of the Volkswagen Group, and Umicore, the Belgian circular materials technology group, announced today the founding of a joint venture for precursor and cathode material production in Europe. From 2025 onwards, the joint venture will supply PowerCo's European battery cell factories with key materials. By the end of the decade, the partners aim to produce cathode material and their precursors for 160 GWh cell capacity per year, which compares to an annual production capacity capable of powering about 2.2 million full electric vehicles. Cathode active materials are crucial for a successful powertrain transition towards e-mobility as they are the key technological lever for battery performance, as well as the biggest single contributor to overall battery cost.

The long-term partnership centers on the production of precursor and cathode materials in Europe, which are strategically important input materials central to battery value creation. Unter the terms of additional agreements, Umicore and PowerCo will collaborate on the sustainable and responsible sourcing of raw materials, an area in which Umicore is an industry leader. In this context, Umicore will be also providing refining services to PowerCo. At a later stage, based on Umicore’s technology and know-how, both partners aim to include elements of refining and battery recycling into the scope of the JV.

Thomas Schmall, Group Board Member for Technology at Volkswagen AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of PowerCo SE, said at the signing of the JV: "Cathode material is an indispensable strategic resource for battery production, accounting for roughly fifty percent of overall cell value. Immediate and long-term access to extensive capacity is thus a very clear competitive advantage. We are setting up a sustainable, transparent supply chain with high environmental and social standards, localizing value creation here in Europe.”

Umicore CEO Mathias Miedreich: "This partnership is a strong signal of recognition of our product and process expertise and a testament to the success of our strategy to establish sustainable industrial-scale, closed loop battery materials value chains in key regions. We are supporting our customers on their path to electrification right from the start, and are very pleased to partner with PowerCo and support Volkswagen in their fast transformation towards sustainable electric mobility.”

Production at the JV is scheduled to start in 2025 to supply PowerCo’s Salzgitter factory, reaching an annual capacity of 40 GWh in 2026. Both partners target to grow the JV‘s annual production capacity to 160 GWh by the end of the decade, based on market and demand development. The production site search is still ongoing.

Under the terms of the agreement, both partners will jointly control the JVand will equally share costs, investments, revenues and profits. The JV will give both partners a significant first-mover advantage in the fast-growing e-mobility market in Europe. Together they plan to invest EUR 3 billion into new materials production capacities.

The partnership will provide PowerCo, at significant scale, with secure and cost-competitive access to Umicore’s innovative, sustainably sourced and tailored high-performance battery materials for its unified cell strategy in Europe. It will allow PowerCo to benefit from Umicore’s proven production capabilities as well as from its upstream expertise. It will in turn provide Umicore with secured access, through firm take or pay commitments, to an important part of the European demand for EV cathode materials at guaranteed value creative returns.

The JV is designed to meet both partners’ profitability and return criteria and will unlock for each side significant synergies and economies of scale. Umicore’s IP and know-how will be made available to the JV through a license agreement to ensure its leading technology position.

PowerCo CEO Frank Blome commented the contract signing: "The availability, cost and technical performance of battery cells are key requirements for the successful ramp-up of e-mobility. By building up substantial production capacities, we are securing the rapidly growing demand for battery-grade materials for our main customer Volkswagen AG in terms of volume and at optimal cost."

Jörg Teichmann, PowerCo Chief Procurement Officer, emphasized: "We are consistently entering the holistic value creation of the battery. A supplier industry for battery materials on the scale required does not yet exist today. We are changing that through our long-term cooperation with Umicore as a global market leader for the key materials used in cell production."

Ralph Kiessling, EVP Energy & Surface Technologies at Umicore: “Through this agreement, we are bringing in our long-standing and proven expertise in the battery materials value chain, while gaining secured access to substantial sales volumes. Moreover, the JV will unlock significant cost and operational synergies with the Umicore Group, hereby strongly contributing to Umicore’s 2030 Return on Capital Employed ambitions expressed at our recent Capital Markets Day.”

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. The name of the joint venture has not been decided yet and will be disclosed at a later point in time.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Volkswagen presents today the ID.5 GTX „Xcite“ to the public for the first time today at the ID. Meet in Locarno (Switzerland). This vehicle is an individual product made by apprentices at Volkswagen’s three locations in Saxony, at Zwickau, Dresden and Chemnitz. For one year, 14 of the best budding specialists worked on a project to demonstrate their skills with considerable creativity and responsibility under expert supervision – from the first design through the adaptation of the bodywork and paintwork to technical commissioning. In addition to sustainability, reflected by vegan leather in the interior, the main focus of this year’s project was on holistic mobility. The ID.5 GTX „Xcite“ already has on board an electric skateboard for the last few meters to the driver’s destination. This is the eighth project of its type completed since 2014.

Robert Janssen, Chair of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH with responsibility for Technology and Logistics: “A real Saxon all-electric car: with the ID.5 GTX ‘Xcite‘, young people have shown what they can do with technical knowledge and a passion for cars. Like its predecessors, this show car is a symbol of the high-quality training and the high level of expertise at Volkswagen Sachsen.“

Jens Rothe, Chairman of the General Works Council at Volkswagen Sachsen: “The ID.5 ‘Xcite‘ is a real eyecatcher. The entire team deserves a word of praise. The project gives an impressive demonstration of the young specialists’ skills. At Volkswagen in Saxony, we currently have 573 apprentices and young people on dual courses of study. For us, high-quality training is not only necessary but also part of our social responsibility.”

Duncan Loibl, 19 years old, electronics technician for automation electronics: “For me, this project was really something quite special: working together as a team to achieve a goal, combining a number of different disciplines and working under real-life conditions such as budgeting, planning and implementation. As a result of Covid and temporary delivery bottlenecks, we had to overcome a number of obstacles as a team. We are all the more proud of our car and the knowledge we have gained. I am grateful for this experience and for the opportunity to take part in the ID.5 GTX ‘Xcite’ project.“

A masterly performance by apprentices: the annual show car from Volkswagen Sachsen

The “Xcite“ show car is based on the standard ID.5 GTX with an 82 kWh battery and a top speed of 180 km/h. Taking this car, the apprentices shaped their young vision. They contributed their skills in mechanics, body work and painting to the design and implementation of the project. The show car was based on precise planning and intensive liaison, with young people working under their own responsibility.

The external changes included comprehensive work on the body. The wheel houses were modified, the door sills were widened and the front and rear fenders were adapted. The car combines matt and gloss paintwork from the Lamborghini and Volkswagen paint ranges. The individually produced 22-inch forged aluminum wheel rims are powder-coated and create an impressive presence.

Both Alcantara and vegan leather were used in the interior, making a sustainability statement. The cockpit, steering wheel, door trims and roof liner were upgraded. The seats themselves are real eyecatchers. The saddlers developed a complete, continuous pattern from the ID honeycomb. This is embroidered on the central sections of the seats and the door trims. The project logo was embroidered on the front headrests. This consists of the ID logo combined with a figure 8, symbolizing the number of projects completed to date.

The car features a digital sound system designed by the project team using equipment from Gladen, Musway and Bang & Olufsen, with 10 amplifiers, a subwoofer and a total output of 2000 watts. There is also a highlight in the trunk: the Teamgee H5 electric skateboard is the perfect companion for the last few meters from the car park to the driver’s destination.

With the exception of the Covid year of 2020, apprentices from the three locations in Saxony have modified a car produced in Zwickau every year since 2014. The young women and men made the show car under their own responsibility from the conceptual design through to implementation with the support of five experienced project mentors. The 14 young apprentices working on this year’s project are in the second and third years of their training as construction mechanics, process technicians for coating technology, vehicle paint technicians, motor vehicle mechatronics technicians, electronics technicians for automation electronics, warehouse logistics operators and mechatronics technicians.

Since the Zwickau vehicle plant has solely produced all-electric models, the ID. Meet in Switzerland, which has been held since 2021 and is privately organized, has been the major showcase for the all-electric show cars. The first show car presented at the Meet was an ID.3 in 2021.

A variety of career prospects: training at Volkswagen Sachsen

Volkswagen Sachsen is the largest employer in the State of Saxony and trains between 130 and 160 young people each year. Apprenticeships in a total of 13 training locations are offered at the facilities in Zwickau, Dresden and Chemnitz. In addition, dual courses of studies are available in six faculties. Applications for 2023 are welcome up to October 31, 2022. Further information is available at www.volkswagen-sachsen.de

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Never before has the internationally acclaimed Guggenheim Museum in the Spanish city of Bilbao welcomed so many guests as during the last months. Responding to the strong interest of visitors, the museum even offered special opening hours during the summer months. The reason for this outstanding level of attraction was the exhibition “Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture” which linked the history of mobility and the design of urban environments with ideas of how we come together and live in the future.

Volkswagen supported the multi-faceted “Motion” exhibition project as leading partner in Bilbao. Widely renowned for its unique building created by Frank O. Gehry, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao achieves a big success in the same year in which it celebrates its 25th jubilee. 750,000 people visited “Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture” while it had been on view for slightly more than 23 weeks from April 8 until September 18. The exhibition was designed by the esteemed architect and visionary Lord Norman Foster who curated it together with Lekha Hileman Waitoller and Manuel Cirauqui from Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

The presentation comprised seven sections, which allowed the audience to undertake a journey through the history of the car and its revolutionary influences on technology, aesthetics and social evolution. Among the artworks on display where two iconic motorcars from Volkswagen’s own collection: a 1951 Volkswagen Beetle and a 1962 Volkswagen Type 2. In addition, Volkswagen participated in the creative process involving Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason and resulting in an innovative audio installation which was then exclusively presented to visitors of the exhibition in Bilbao.

Volkswagen also supported the “Future Mobilities” conference that took place in Bilbao on September 12 and 13. In the final week of the exhibition, students and researchers from international universities came together to discuss visions and concepts that had been developed at 15 universities in 13 countries and which had been publicly revealed as part of the exhibition. The conference was also attended by design strategists from Volkswagen who exchanged views on future scenarios for living environments and mobility options with experts from the Royal College of Art in London, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Yale University, the Swiss-based ETH Zurich, the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, the Hongik University in South Korea and Japan’s Tokio University among others.

Benita von Maltzahn, Director Cultural Engagement at Volkswagen comments on the success of the exhibition: “Our intention as a partner of culture and the arts is always to make creative work accessible to a wide audience. Lord Norman Foster’s striking idea which came to reality in Bilbao offered an immersive reflection of the links between art, architecture and design. And we join the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in thanking all these people who were able to see this special exhibition.”

Lord Norman Foster, curator: “I am delighted by the record numbers who have attended the ‘Motion’ exhibition, especially as I understand that its unique mix of autos, art and architecture has introduced a new kind of visitor to the Museum. It is testimony to the attraction and power of design, the patronage of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the support of Volkswagen as one of its principal sponsors.”

The support for the exhibition project is part of Volkswagen’s international work to assume social responsibility. It includes the commitment to join partnerships and collaborations letting as many people as possible discover the power of creativity and strengthening a sustainable impact of culture and the arts. In this role, Volkswagen strives to foster an open, forward-looking and engaging dialogue within the society.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Electrifying surprise at the ID. Treffen in Locarno: Volkswagen presents the ID. XTREME in Ticino today, an exceptional off-road concept car that will generate an enthusiastic response among the many electric mobility fans at the event. The fully electric concept car with all-wheel drive system is based on the ID.4 GTX and combines the strengths of a modern SUV with the sense of adventure embodied by a rugged off-road vehicle.

The ID. XTREME from Volkswagen stands for maximum emotion and a desire for adventure. The concept vehicle was created by the team of Andreas Reckewerth (Head of overall vehicle MEB) in the Volkswagen Development department. “The modular electric drive matrix (MEB) has enormous technical potential,” says Silke Bagschik, Head of the MEB Product Line. “For many of our customers, vehicles are much more than just a means of transport. With the ID. XTREME, we are raising electric mobility from VW to a new performance level.” The result of the project is a unique off-road vehicle that impresses with its rugged appearance and outstanding power. A high-performance drive on the rear axle and software adaptations in the drive control unit increase the system power of the concept car by 65 kW to 285 kW compared with the ID.4 GTX – in other words, by about 30 percent. “The ID. XTREME is made by enthusiasts at Volkswagen for ID. enthusiasts here in Locarno. We are really eager to find out how the fans of electromobility react to the vehicle. Based on the feedback from our community, we will decide how to proceed with the project," adds Silke Bagschik.

The exterior of the VW ID. XTREME also shows that the vehicle is ready for every off-road adventure. Raised rally running gear, 18-inch off-road wheels, a modified crash member with additional front bumper, and 50 mm-wider wings manufactured by 3D printing combine to give the concept vehicle an authentic off-road look. The roof carrier with additional LED lights and the completely closed aluminium underbody also equip the fully electric all-wheel drive vehicle for excursions away from paved roads.

Acoustically also, the ID. XTREME has something special to offer: the driving noise was developed together with Volkswagen Design especially for the concept vehicle and is output to the outside via a sound generator in the wheel housing. In the interior, the concept car impresses with various highlights, including numerous Alcantara applications, revamped seats and elements in the accent colour orange. And it goes without saying that the ID. XTREME is sustainable: a no longer required test vehicle from production development and a used 82 kWh battery were taken as the basis for the concept vehicle.

Volkswagen is presenting the ID. XTREME to the public for the first time at the ID. Treffen in Locarno. The event by and for fans of electric mobility is taking place for the second time this year and could become the green and sustainable event for electric mobility modelled on the GTI meeting at Lake Wörth (Austria). This year, ID. enthusiasts from the whole of Europe are meeting up on the shore of Lago Maggiore from 6 to 10 September to share their experiences with electric mobility.

Initiated and organized by private members of the ID. Drivers Club the ID. Treffen is supported by Volkswagen as part of its commitment to the way to ZERO. Together with experts from the company the team of the Volkswagen Drivers Club is attending the event to provide insights into the current developments in the area of sustainable mobility. Alongside the ID. XTREME, Volkswagen is also presenting other models from the ID. family in Locarno.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com