Ontario: Volkswagen is all set to open its first battery cell plant outside Europe in southwestern Ontario.
Europe’ s largest automaker announced on Monday that it’s Powercom subsidiary’s plant will be the first overseas facility for making batteries in Ontario. The company has set a production target here for 2027. Canada is providing them with enabling conditions, including local supply of raw materials, as well as access to clean electricity, the company said.
In a statement, Thomas Schmall, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of PowerCo SE, said, “Canada and Ontario are the perfect partners for our battery business and green economy jobs. We share our values of stability, responsibility and cooperation. “We will be reliable partners and good neighbours for st Thomas and the people of Ontario,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ontario’s Minister for Economic Development, Vic Fedeli, said Canada has completed the journey from producing electric vehicles to becoming the top-ranked player in the battery supply chain very fast and successfully. This will be the second electric vehicle battery factory to be set up in Ontario.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “It’s official: @VWGroup has chosen Canada as the site of their first-ever overseas battery cell factory – good news for our workers, our environment, and our economy. We’ll keep working to attract investments like this as we grow our electric vehicle supply chain.”
He further said that 1 in 10. That’s how many cars sold in Canada are electric. We said we’d hit that initial goal by 2025 and, because of our investments and the hard work of Canadians, we got there two years ahead of schedule – and secured tens of thousands of jobs across the supply chain.