The Volkswagen Group believes the world needs the equivalent of 40 Tesla gigafactories in the coming decade to keep up with demand for lithium-ion batteries.
Speaking to reporters late last month, VW’s head of research and development, Ulrich Eichhorn, made his projection based on internal targets that a quarter of the automaker’s volume will be made up of electric vehicles by 2025.
Eichhorn says that by 2025, VW itself will need more than 200 gigawatt hours of electricity for its EVs and if other leading automakers also target 25 per cent of their sales volume to be made up of EVs by 2025, the industry will need more than 1.5 terawatt-hours’ worth of batteries, the equivalent of over 40 gigafactories.
Volkswagen, among others, is aware that developments in battery technology could increase the energy density of cells and therefore fewer battery factories may be needed. Automotive News reports that company engineers are already researching lithium sulphur batteries as well as those using lithium air chemistry but it is unlikely either technology will be commercially available for 15 years.
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