According to Reuters, Volkswagen announced on Monday that it would establish its first battery cell factory in North America in Canada to enable its cars to obtain subsidies provided by the United States government, which requires that the batteries of electric vehicles be made of North American materials.
According to the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of the United States, only when a certain proportion of the key minerals in the battery are mined or processed in the United States or countries with a free trade agreement with the United States, or recycled in North America, can the automobile obtain a subsidy of thousands of dollars.
Volkswagen confirmed in December last year that six months after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian government, it was looking for a place to build a factory in Canada to ensure that it could obtain the key raw materials needed for batteries.
“Through the decision to produce battery cells in Canada and establish a Scout brand factory in South Carolina, we are rapidly promoting the implementation of our North American strategy,” said Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen, in a statement on Monday.
The automaker said last week that its Scout brand would build a US $2 billion manufacturing plant near Columbia, South Carolina (IT Home note: currently about 13.88 billion yuan) to produce trucks and SUVs, and planned to start production in 2026.
Volkswagen has long said that in view of the high cost of transportation and logistics, supply chain risks and geopolitical tensions, it is trying to establish regional supply chains in Europe, North America and China for the production of electric vehicles. The company said last week that the IRA encouraged the company to give priority to investment in North America, and added that the European battery factory plan was still under implementation, but it would wait to see whether the IRA would stimulate Europe to provide better incentives.
Source：IThome
