Volkswagen and Umicore to build battery component plant in Poland

Components for Volkswagen electric vehicle batteries will be produced in Poland. IONWAY, a venture founded by the automaker and Belgian group Umicore, will build its first plant for producing cathode active material in the Polish city of Nysa in the south of the country. The total investment is expected to amount to 1.7 billion euros (41.6 billion Kč), with the aim of making production cheaper and electric vehicles affordable for everyone, IONWAY chief Thomas Jansseune said in a statement.

Umicore is a leading company focused on recycling and materials technology, and is among the largest producers of materials for battery manufacturing. It already has a production plant in Nysa. The new factory for Volkswagen will be located right next to it. Production is scheduled to begin in 2025. The site is expected to create 900 jobs by 2030.

The plant will produce cathode material that Volkswagen can use to manufacture batteries for its electric vehicles. IONWAY also plans to supply the precursors needed to make batteries. This will require the construction of another plant, but its location has not yet been decided.

The Volkswagen-Umicore joint venture aims to supply enough material for 2.2 million electric vehicles a year. This should cover a large part of the demand from the battery factories the automaker plans to build in Europe, the DPA news agency noted.