SEAT to spend .2 billion converting main factory to BEV production hub for VW Group

SEAT to spend $3.2 billion converting main factory to BEV production hub for VW Group

Published

2 years ago

February 22, 2023

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Thirty years ago to the day after opening its main production facility in Martorell, Spain, SEAT S.A. announced it will use the site as home to its largest transformation to electrification yet. Following an investment of three billion euros (~$3.2B), SEAT intends to lead development and become a small BEV production hub for a number of brands under the Volkswagen Group umbrella.

SEAT S.A. is a Spanish automaker founded in 1950 and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Group since 1986. The name is actually an acronym that stands for “Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo,” but SEAT rolls off the tongue a bit more quickly.

To this day, SEAT operates out of its headquarters and main production footprint in Martorell about 20 miles outside of Barcelona. The Spanish automaker relayed that it has produced over 12 million vehicles across 45 models at the facility, exporting them to more than 70 different countries.

To this point, SEAT itself only sells one BEV – the Cupra Born – but it is built by Volkswagen in Zwickau, Germany alongside its ID.3 twin. That should change by 2025. As the Martorell factory celebrates 30 years since its inauguration in 1993, SEAT has announced a large investment to (at least start) going electric.

SEAT to (partially) pivot to EV production, R&D by 2025

According to a release from SEAT today, it will use the investment of three billion euros to transition its Martorell facility from combustion to electric in all areas – “research and development, production and logistics, commercial and people, and organization.”

The site’s main factory is expected to begin production of fully-electric vehicles for multiple brands in Volkswagen Group by 2025 as part of a strategic plan consisting of five main pillars:

People and organization
Electrification and product
Production end to end (E2E)
Digitalization
Sustainability

SEAT’s transformation parallel’s parent company Volkswagen Group’s electrification goals and those outlined in Spain’s Future: Fast Forward project. Larger plans include the electrification of SEAT’s Pamplona factory in addition to Martorell, a new battery gigafactory in Valencia, and the implementation of a complete supplier ecosystem. The country-wide project is expecting to positively impact the Spanish economy with more than 21,000 million euros.

With the investment, SEAT intends to turn Martorell into a smart factory and educate its employees on the exciting new world of electric vehicle production. Beginning in 2025, SEAT intends to become a main production hub for Volkswagen Group and a vital part of Spain’s EV value chain. SEAT and Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths spoke:

Over the past 30 years, SEAT S.A. has created employment and boosted industrial growth in our country and there is even more planned for the future. Our ambition is to produce electric vehicles made in Spain from 2025 and, as part of this transformation, Martorell will also manufacture the Cupra UrbanRebel. Thanks to this project, the most important for our company in the years ahead, our employees and the factory will begin a new era.

The UrbanRebel isn’t expected to arrive until 2025 anyway, so SEAT’s transition to EV production should tie nicely. There has been no word on whether SEAT will inherit Cupra Born production from VW, but it would make more sense to keep it in Germany with the ID.3 and save production space for other small BEVs in the group.

Again, since SEAT only has one EV for sale and doesn’t build it in Spain, we’d expect the automaker to continue production of its combustion vehicles at the Martorell facility. With rising demand in all-electric models, SEAT’s EV production footprint could easily continue to grow in Montorell and eventually usurp combustion vehicle production altogether. Let’s hope.

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Beta Technologies founder completes first test flight in its production-intent eCTOL [Video]

Published

4 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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Beta Technologies founder completes first test flight in its production-intent eCTOL [Video]

All-electric aircraft developer BETA Technologies has shared another important milestone in bringing its first two vessels to market. Most recently, BETA’s founder, CEO, and test pilot Kyle Clark took the production version of its ALIA eCTOL up for its first flight, as seen in the video below.

BETA Technologies is a fully integrated electric aircraft and systems developer based in Vermont. Three years ago, it debuted its first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the ALIA–250. That BETA vessel has since been renamed the ALIA VTOL and completed a piloted test flight transitioning mid-air this past April.

In addition to the ALIA VTOL, BETA has also been developing an electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) plane called the ALIA CTOL. To date, it has flown tens of thousands of test miles en route to evaluation flights for FAA certification. That aircraft is targeting full approval for commercial operations by 2025.

As BETA moves closer to bringing the ALIA CTOL to the public, it has completed its first bonafide production build in South Burlington. Following a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), BETA has successfully taken its production-ready ALIA CTOL up for a test flight, piloted by its founder and CEO.

Watch BETA’s founder complete a CTOL test flight

BETA Technologies shared details of its first successful production CTOL test flight today alongside the images above and the full video below.

Once the production-intent build of the ALIA CTOL was complete, the FAA inspected the aircraft for safety and compliance before granting BETA a Multipurpose Special Airworthiness Certificate for Experimental Research & Development, Market Survey, and Crew Training, signing-off approval for test flights.

On November 13, BETA CEO, founder, and test pilot Kyle Clark conducted the first test flight of the ALIA CTOL aircraft, which lasted nearly an hour. The test included a conventional runway takeoff before the aircraft climbed to 7,000 feet.

While in the air, Clark tested the aircraft’s handling qualities, stability, control test points, and initial airspeed expansion before completing several approaches ahead of a normal landing. Clark spoke following the successful flight:

This start of our production CX300 flight test campaign is a result of years of hard work and focus on studying customer requirements, hard engineering, manufacturing, production, quality and test. It represents a significant milestone for BETA, and is the beginning of an exciting new phase for the business. With this, we’re one step closer to putting this technology into the hands of our customers.

We learned a lot from this first production build. We weren’t just building an aircraft company, we were building and refining a system to build high quality aircraft efficiently. This first build allowed the team to collect data and insight on manufacturing labor, tooling design, processes, yields and sequences, all of which are being used to refine our production systems.

With its production test flight campaign now underway, BETA says it will continue testing the ALIA CTOL aircraft for the standard 50 hours required before qualifying for a Market Survey and Crew Training certificate. That next certificate will enable BETA to fly outside of Burlington and Plattsburgh and continue training additional pilots on the aircraft.

The company shared it will also continue production of additional aircraft, including ALIA CTOL and ALIA VTOL configurations, the latter of which was recently teased in October. You can view footage of BETA’s CTOL flight below.

[embedded content]

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Environment

U.S. crude oil rises, trades around $69 per barrel

Published

4 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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U.S. crude oil rises, trades around per barrel

Crude oil futures rose slightly on Thursday, with the U.S. benchmark trading around $69 per barrel, though the market outlook remains bearish.

Global crude supplies are expected to outstrip demand by more than 1 million barrels per day next year led by robust growth in the U.S., according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly market report.

Here are today’s energy prices by 8:07 a.m. ET:

West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.92 per barrel, up 49 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is down more than 3%.
Brent January contract: $72.78 per barrel, up 50 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, the global benchmark is down more than 5%.
RBOB Gasoline December contract: $1.9711 per gallon, up 0.3%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen nearly 6%.
Natural Gas December contract: $2.966 per thousand cubic feet, down 0.6%. Year to date, gas has gained nearly 18%.

UBS slashed its price forecast for global benchmark Brent to $80 per barrel from $87 previously on weakening demand in China, the world’s largest crude importer.

OPEC on Tuesday cut its demand growth forecast for the fourth month in a row earlier this week.

U.S. crude oil has shed about 4% and Brent is down 3.5% since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential as the dollar has surged. A stronger U.S. dollar can depress oil demand among buyers that hold other currencies.

Don’t miss these energy insights from CNBC PRO:

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Loren McDonald stops by Quick Charge to discuss EV charging, Paren, and more

Published

15 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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Loren McDonald stops by Quick Charge to discuss EV charging, Paren, and more

Leading electric vehicle analyst, author, and industry thought leaders Loren McDonald and Bill Ferro stop by Quick Charge to discuss EV Adoption’s acquisition by Paren, the “crisis” of EV charging reliability, and the real state of the EV market.

Depending on who you listen, EVs are either driving brands to record growth and are about cross that critical 10% of the overall market nationwide, or the future is bleak, the market is down, and EVs just aren’t selling. What’s really going on? Loren and Bill (probably) have some answers.

Today’s episode is sponsored by BLUETTI, a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems. For a limited time, save up to 52% during BLUETTI’s exclusive Black Friday sale, now through November 28, and be sure to use promo code BLUETTI5OFF for 5% off all power stations site wide. Click here to learn more.

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