Volkswagen’s new battery company, PowerCo, announced Monday that it would be forming a joint venture with Umicore to produce battery materials for around 2.2 million EVs. The new joint venture is a significant milestone, establishing one of the first fully integrated auto supply chains as VW looks to ramp up EV sales.
PowerCo is a 100% owned subsidiary of Volkswagen that was established in July 2022 to handle the automaker’s global battery operations. Volkswagen and PowerCo began construction on its battery plant in Salzgitter, Germany, in July – the first of six planned.
As demand for electric vehicles continues soaring in all major auto markets (US, Europe, China, etc.), automakers are scrambling to keep up with demand. Many automakers are already sold out of their popular EV models for the year. With demand only expected to continue accelerating, the key question becomes: Where will automakers source all the materials?
Since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed in August, automakers from around the globe have rushed to secure deals to lock up critical battery materials in North America. For example, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Volkswagen (among others) have entered into agreements to source minerals in North America.
Volkswagen’s new JV with Umicore focuses on the automaker’s home market in Europe, where the automaker expects to overtake Tesla in EV sales by 2025, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report.
The partnership was previously announced in December 2021, but today’s announcement confirms it, giving us a better idea of what we can expect going forward.
VW breaks ground on battery factor in Germany Source: VW
Why the Volkswagen Umicore partnership is significant
With Volkswagen’s PowerCo planning for six battery factories in total, it will require a significant amount of minerals to keep up with production.
That being said, Umicore announced in July its plans to build a manufacturing facility in Canada for cathode active battery materials (CAM) and their precursors (pCAM), which are crucial for EV battery performance and one of the most costly components.
The partnership aims for 160 GWh cell capacity per year by 2030, which is enough to power around 2.2 million EVs.
Thomas Schmall, chairman of the supervisory board of PowerCo, talks about how critical cathode material is to EV production, stating:
Cathode material is an indispensable strategic resource for battery production, accounting for roughly fifty percent of overall cell value. Immediate and long-term access to extensive capacity is thus a very clear competitive advantage. We are setting up a sustainable, transparent supply chain with high environmental and social standards, localizing value creation here in Europe.
Volkswagen (PoweCo) and Umicore plan for an equal 50/50 partnership where investments, costs, and profits will be split down the middle. The partners plan to invest about €3 billion (about $2.9 billion) to upgrade its supply chain for superior material production capabilities.
The Umicore partnership looks to give Volkswagen a significant advantage in the European EV market with one of the first fully integrated supply chains, from mining to refining capabilities.
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DHL Express has more than 10,000 eSprinter vans in its global delivery fleet, but none of those have been deployed in North America – until now, that is! The company recently added 45 new Mercedes eSprinter panel vans, and they’ve got plans for plenty more!
While Mercedes offers its eSprinters with a promised 206 mile estimated range, DHL says it’s consistently seen them exceed 240 miles in stop-and-go delivery duty, making them the longest-range battery electric vehicles in DHL’s US fleet.
And, of course, the eSprinter will do all of that without the noise, vibration, and harmful carbon emissions of diesel.
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“Electrifying our fleet is one of the most visible and impactful ways we are moving toward a more sustainable future,” explains Greg Hewitt, CEO of DHL Express, US. “The Mercedes-Benz eSprinter brings an extended range and proven cargo capabilities that allow us to serve our customers with zero emissions, while also advancing our global goal of more sustainable logistics. These vehicles not only strengthen our operations in major US cities but also set the stage for future electric fleet growth across the Americas.”
The 45 eSprinters will see deployment in Chicago, Indiana, and Pittsburg, and will act as a first step DHL’s global Sustainability Roadmap, which will see the company electrify 66% of its last-mile US delivery fleet (and some of its long-haul fleet operations) by 2030.
In short, they’re doing the right thing – or seem to be, anyway. Whether or not that commitment to decarbonization will win them more American customers remains to be seen.
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Enphase Energy just launched a new off-grid system that lets homeowners power their homes without a utility connection – even for extended periods. The California-based Enphase says the off-grid setup delivers a seamless way to live independently from the grid while still using solar, batteries, and a standby AC generator.
A full off-grid setup
The new system combines Enphase’s IQ Battery 5P with embedded grid-forming microinverters, IQ8 Series Microinverters with Sunlight JumpStart, and a third-party standby AC generator. The components work together to supply power to a home and automatically manage energy sources to maximize efficiency and reliability.
If the batteries are drained and the generator runs out of fuel, the Sunlight JumpStart feature can automatically recharge the batteries the next morning once the sun comes up.
The IQ Battery 5P delivers 3.84 kVA of power per 5 kWh of capacity, and systems can be scaled up to 40 kWh and 15.4 kVA. That’s enough power to start big household appliances like HVAC systems or water pumps. The IQ System Controller 3G provides the backbone, managing solar, batteries, and generator inputs to deliver up to 46 kVA of off-grid power.
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Smarter control and connectivity
Each system connects to the cloud through Enphase’s IQ Combiner 5C HDK, which bundles solar interconnection, communications, and metering into one box. For homes without reliable broadband, the built-in 4G LTE Cat 4 modem keeps the system online for monitoring, firmware updates, and remote support.
Homeowners can manage everything from the Enphase App – from solar generation and battery status to generator integration and load control.
Why it matters
As grid outages become more common and homeowners look for ways to gain energy independence, off-grid systems like this are becoming more appealing.
“With the launch of our off-grid solution, we are giving homeowners a reliable path to complete energy independence,” said Nitish Mathur, Enphase’s SVP of customer experience. Enphase says over 100 homes are already operating entirely off-grid using its technology. The company plans to expand availability beyond the US in 2026.
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Global offshore wind targets are still strong enough to triple global capacity by 2030, despite the US’s offshore wind stagnation under Trump. A new analysis from energy think tank Ember and the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) shows that the rest of the world is charging forward, underscoring confidence in offshore wind as a cornerstone of future clean energy systems.