After several weeks of rumors and information, the new location of the gigafactory of batteries for electric cars that the Volkswagen Group is going to build in Spain has finally been made official. It will be in Sagunto and will employ some 3,000 people.
One of the keys to the development of Spain as a power in the European industry of automotive industry is to attract future projects from manufacturers. And it is that these are currently in the process of adapting to electric mobility and this requires a significant investment.
At the end of February, we reported the intention of the Volkswagen Group to build a new battery gigafactory for electric cars in Spain and, although various media reported that the chosen location was Sagunto, in Valencia, the German automotive business group refused to confirm it officially.
“Our ambition is to electrify Spain and we are willing to invest more than 7,000 million euros”
Less than a month later, the official confirmation has come from the Volkswagen Group from Wayne Griffiths, President of SEAT, and Thomas Schmall, member of the Board of Directors of Volkswagen AG, Head of Technology and Chairman of the Board of Directors of SEAT SA
The Volkswagen Group aims to achieve a capacity of annual production of 40 GWh and plans to employ more than 3,000 people at the Valencia plant. The schedule is very tight: in order to start production in 2026, the construction of the plant must start at the end of this year.
The first milestone should be the positive result of the presentation of the PERTE and the completion of the permits, informs SEAT. «In Valencia, we will manufacture nothing less than the next generation of cells: a standardized factory, which will produce the innovative unified Volkswagen cell and will be supplied with renewable energy, which will enable sustainable battery production. The plant will also create a strong knock-on effect throughout the entire battery value chain in Spain and beyond the country,” explained Schmall.
A plan of 7 billion
But the construction of the Sagunto gigafactory is just one part of the electrification plan that the Volkswagen Group wants to implement in Spain, as Thomas Schmall has officially confirmed.
“This project is very important for Volkswagen, for Spain and for all of Europe. Our ambition is to electrify Spain and we are willing to invest more than 7,000 million euros together with external suppliers for the electrification of our plants in Martorell and Pamplona, and locate the value chain for the production of electric batteries in Valencia”, he said.
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Wayne Griffiths has said that: «’Future: Fast Forward’ has the potential to transform the Spanish automotive industry and democratize electric mobility throughout Europe. The more than 7,000 million euros that the Volkswagen Group and SEAT SA will mobilize for this project would represent the largest industrial investment in the history of Spain.
The objective of the Volkswagen Group and SEAT SA for the Iberian Peninsula is to electrify Spain through the creation of a hub european electric mobility and the construction of a battery production center and a complete local ecosystem.
Source:
SEAT
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Photos: SEAT