Porsche Builds Battery Factory With Production Capacity For 1,000 Cars A Year

JAKARTA - German luxury car manufacturer Porsche collaborated with battery manufacturer Customcells to produce high-performance car batteries that can cut recharging time.

The partnership with Customcells, a company in southern Germany specializing in lithium-ion cells, aims to produce car batteries with a higher energy density than the prototypes used in current Porsche electric cars, the company said in a statement.

The decision by the automaker, which is a subsidiary of Volkswagen, was motivated by a desire to reduce dependence on battery manufacturers in Asia, as they plan to launch an electric model to meet stringent emissions targets in the European Union, as reported by Reuters, Monday, June 21.

In addition to cutting charging time, increasing energy density means reducing the amount of raw material needed in the battery to reach the same range. It will cut the cost of producing batteries, making electric cars more affordable.

Porsche said it will invest a high double-digit million euros in the joint venture, in which it will hold an 80 percent stake.

Later, the production facilities that the joint venture will build will have a capacity of up to 100-kilowatt hours, which will translate into about enough batteries for 1,000 cars per year.

Porsche Chief Executive, Oliver Blume, said in April the company wanted to accelerate e-mobility drives with plans for a German plant in Tuebingen to produce battery cells. At the time, he did not say whether Porsche would seek a joint venture partner. Customcells itself is based in Tuebingen.

Porsche's parent company Volkswagen said it plans to build half a dozen battery cell factories across Europe and expand the infrastructure for charging electric vehicles globally.