The Volkswagen Group has added South Korean battery cell manufacturer SK Innovation (SKI) to its stable of battery suppliers. SKI will supply the batteries for VW’s North American sales and a portion of the batteries for its European pure EVs.

VW’s Roadmap E strategy calls for the Group to bring 50 new fully electric models to market by 2025. This will require battery capacity in excess of 150 GWh per year through 2025, which VW points out is equal to four times the annual capacity of Tesla’s Gigafactory.

Along with SKI, the Volkswagen Group has chosen LG Chem and Samsung as battery partners for Europe – they’ll begin supplying batteries in 2019. SKI will cover VW’s battery demand in the North American market from 2022 on. VW has chosen Chinese battery giant CATL to supply batteries for the China market beginning in 2019.

“With SK Innovation, LG Chem, Samsung and CATL, we have found strong partners for the long-term supply of cells for our electric vehicles,” said Board Member Stefan Sommer. “This lays the foundation for the transformation of the Volkswagen Group towards e-mobility.”

Source: VW