Volkswagen plans North American battery plant, paving way for more EV tax credits
Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume recently shared that the company is actively searching for a home for its first battery cell factory in North America. Furthermore, Blume has named Canada specifically as “one logical option.” By joining Volkswagen’s current EV production footprint in Tennessee, the Group may soon meet the battery manufacturing requirements outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act for vehicles like the ID.4 to continue to qualify for US federal tax credits, while opening the door for more EVs under its umbrella to qualify.
On the whole, Volkswagen Group is putting a lot of funding and effort into becoming an all-electric company across most of its marques, including Audi and Porsche. As an automotive brand, Volkswagen especially has help lead the charge (no pun intended) for legacy automakers shifting their business strategies to support the growing wave of zero-emission vehicles.
In the US in particular, VW has revamped some of its production to support EV manufacturing in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it is now rolling out ID.4s. Furthermore, Volkswagen Group has shared intentions for a second faciilty on US soil that could also include a battery cell plant.
Under current tax credits, the Volkswagen ID.4 qualifies for up to $7,500 in federal tax credits, but those numbers will be cut next month when new terms kick in as part of the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden in August. Since the ID.4 is assembled in the US, it could still qualify for some level of tax credit, but either the battery components and/or critical materials must come from the US or a free trade partner as well, a requirement Volkswagen is quite aware of.
A mere week after the President signed the IRA, Volkswagen announced a supply agreement with the Canadian government to obtain raw materials for battery manufacturing in the US. Now, it appears Volkswagen group is taking battery manufacturing a step further by erecting its own facility – its first on the continent.
Volkswagen to bolster battery production in North America
Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume reaffirmed the company’s intention to bring battery manufacturing the North America, particularly to support EV production in the US. Although the company is still searching, our neighbors to the north sound like a viable candidate:
Canada is one logical option for the construction of a gigafactory in the region of North America.
Blume went on to cite high standards in sustainability and ideal economic conditions as factors that could soon make Canada home to Volkswagen’s first battery gigafactory outside of Europe. Conversely, the Group’s battery subsidiary PowerCo also announced an extended deal with Umicore out of Belgium to ship cathode materials to Canada. Volkswagen said this agreement is part of a long-term strategic partnership to support its full intentions of future battery cell production in North America.
While many European automakers have scoffed at the revised tax credit terms in the Inflation Reduction Act as unfair, the legislations intention to bring more EV manufacturing to North America already appears to be working. By adding battery production to the continent, more Volkswagen Group’s automotive brands may soon qualify for tax credits.
Recently reborn off-road nameplate Scout could be one of those marques, especially since it is reportedly in talks with contract manufacturer Foxconn to help build its EVs. Foxconn currently operates out of the famed Lordstown facility in Ohio. Add VW Group’s planned battery plant, and you may have several more models available to US customers that qualify for credits (pending MSRP of course).
We’d expect the next update in Volkswagen Group’s search process to include the location of the pending battery plant, and Canada appears to now be the frontrunner.
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In a move that helps the brand duck protectionist anti-Chinese tariffs, Volvo Cars has switched production of its award-winning EX30 models destined for US roads from its Zhangjiakou plant in China to the Ghent facility in Belgium.
Volvo EX30 production began in the company’s Ghent factory back in April, but those first cars were earmarked for the Swedish domestic and European export markets, but that move wasn’t primarily motivated by avoiding tariffs. As Electrive reports, the company seemed happy enough to continue importing its small electric crossover from China and accepting the new 28.8% tariffs (up from 10%), but the wait times to get the vehicles shipped in from China was imply too long.
In 2024, Swedish and German buyers had to wait up to eight months for their EX30 in some cases, according to Volvo Cars’ European boss, Arek Nowinski, per Automotive News. Once production in Ghent is fully up to speed, however, wait times should be cut to about 90 days. Those wait times, and the price hike associated with the tariffs, have hurt sales of the originally Chinese-made Volvo EV. In 2024, for example, the EX30 ranked third in European EV sales, but slipped out of the top 10 first half of 2025.
“The car is now being built in Europe, which means faster delivery times,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson to Automotive News. “We should return to the sales and market share figures for the EX30 that we had before the introduction of tariffs.”
Coming to Staying in America
The EX30’s switch to Ghent is good news for American fans of the compact, lickety-quick Volvo EV. Now that it’s no longer exclusively made in China, Volvo has decided to give it a stay of execution as it revamps its US product lineup to better align with market trends (read: SUVs) and the changing political landscape (read: tariffs and inflation).
The reason? The Made in China version of the EX30 would virtually unsellable in the US due to the implementation of 147% tariffs on vehicles imported from China. Vehicles imported from Europe, meanwhile, carry just 15% tariffs, keeping the EX30 in a competitive price bracket.
Expect to see both Ghent and South Carolina play an increasingly large role in Volvo’s US product mix – at least for the next three-odd years.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Cars, Automotive News, via Electrive.
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New filings have revealed that BYD is about to release a ridiculous 3,000 hp electric supercar: the Yangwang U9 Track Edition.
BYD already shocked the world when it launched the Yangwang U9, its first all-electric supercar.
It featured four advanced electric motors with a combined power of nearly 1,300 horsepower. The U9 can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in just 2.36 seconds.
With a motor at each wheel and a highly advanced electric-air suspension, the U9 can turn on itself and even jump over potholes.
But that was only the beginning.
Based on a new filing with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), BYD is preparing to launch a new ‘Track Edition’ of the Yangwang U9:
When an automaker releases a “track” version of a car, it typically primarily features body changes for better aerodynamic performance, adding downforce, and it will also often feature bigger brakes.
The Yangwang U9 ‘Track Edition’ appears to feature all that… and much more.
The filing reveals that BYD updated the motors at each wheel to a new 555 kW motor. That’s a higher-performing motor than in most performance electric vehicles. The U9 Track Edition has four of them for a total of 2,220 kW (3,019 hp).
I would have thought that this was a typo if it wasn’t for the insane electric vehicles coming out of China these days.
Here are a few pictures from the MIIT filing:
There are a lot of performance specs that are not included in the MIIT filing. Therefore, it will be interesting to see when the vehicle is fully unveiled and BYD reveals what kind of performance it can achieve with 3,000 hp packed in 4 electric motors.
Here are a few other features mentioned in the filing:
Standard features:
- 20-inch wheels with 325/35 R20 tyres
- Carbon-fibre roof
- Large fixed carbon-fibre rear wing
- Rear diffuser with adjustable blades for aerodynamic optimisation
Optional aerodynamic parts:
- Standard or enhanced carbon-fibre front splitter
- Electric rear wing
Electrek’s Take
How are they going to keep that thing from flying away? Seriously.
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