VW to cut battery costs by two-thirds

Volkswagen is planning a universal lithium ion battery pack design that could reduce production costs by as much as 66 per cent in all electrified vehicles within the group.

The German giant says the new modular design will be adapted for all its hybrid and all-electric vehicles, including the e-Golf, Golf GTE plug-in hybrid, Audi A3 e-tron and the upcoming Passat GTE.

At present, the group uses various types of lithium-ion cells supplied by companies such as Panasonic and Samsung. The company said the new system could still call on outside suppliers to build single-cell systems to the new design.

Adoption of a universal design would also allow better utilisation of the group’s battery module assembly plant in Braunschweig, Germany.

According to a report in Automotive News Europe, VW board member Heinz-Jakob Neusser said: "We have a clear understanding in the group of a common cell that means each member of the group, each brand, uses the same cell. Otherwise, we cannot get the synergies out of this development."

Automotive News said Nuesser would not give a timetable for the transition to the new system.

The group is also looking into new-generation solid-state lithium-ion battery technology that is not only fireproof, but will also reportedly up the energy density by five times over today’s EV batteries.