Volkswagen (Anhui) Components Co. Ltd. (VWAC), Volkswagen Group’s first 100%-owned, battery-system plant in China, has commenced the production of its first high-voltage battery system, the company announced Nov. 21.
These locally produced high-voltage batteries will be used in Volkswagen Anhui’s MEB electric vehicle production, the company said, adding that this is the latest milestone in the VW Group’s strategic development of Hefei, Anhui, China, as a high-tech intelligent connected vehicles (ICV) hub. The move is also seen as a major achievement for the VW Group’s "In China, for China" strategy.
Notably, VWAC is the first battery-system plant wholly invested by Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin) Co. Ltd. The facility has an initial annual capacity of 150,000 to 180,000 high-voltage battery systems. With the new facility, VWAC aims to power Volkswagen Anhui’s all-electric vehicles based on the Group’s MEB platform.
According to the company note, the newly produced battery system consists of multiple cell modules, cell management controller, battery management system (BMS) and connector strips.
“96% of the components required for battery production are supplied locally,” the company said in a statement on Nov. 21.
VWAC said that the company is also poised to spearhead the production of the VW Group’s cell-to-pack (CTP) battery packs using unified cells developed in cooperation with Gotion High-Tech.
The new battery plant is spread across an area of 45,000 square meters, and is located next to the production facilities of Volkswagen Anhui, Volkswagen’s first majority-owned joint venture for all-electric vehicles. The plant was built within a record period of just 12 months, the company said.
Further, the entire production process is covered by automatic line-feeding technology. Interestingly, at the new battery plant, VWAC can achieve just-in-sequence (JIS) logistics and accurate parts processing through a combination of automated guided vehicles (AGV), high-precision intelligent cameras and industrial robots, ensuring production stability and the quality of products. Moreover, the quality lab also accommodates a water cutting machine, laser radar and 3D coordinate measuring machine (CMM) equipment, all of which contribute to improving the efficiency of product analysis while meeting Volkswagen Group’s stringent quality standard.
Commenting on the new development milestone, Olaf Korzinovski, executive vice president of Volkswagen Group China, responsible for Components, Logistics and QA, said, “Volkswagen Group Component China is actively driving our transformation towards a new era of intelligent, connected vehicles, in China, for China. VWAC serves as the powerhouse of battery production and is a vital part of our future development. With the first high-voltage battery system rolling off the production line at VWAC, Volkswagen Group Components China has shown its dedication to locally developing and producing top-notch backbone components for our EVs.”
