Volkswagen Group Canada increasing its focus on EV infrastructure: CEO
, BNN Bloomberg
Jun 29, 2023
Volkswagen Group Canada’s top executive said the automotive company is continuing to focus on electric vehicles by building out infrastructure and getting involved in supply chains.
Pierre Boutin, the chief executive officer of Volkswagen Group Canada, said at the Collision tech conference in Toronto on Thursday that consumer buy-in will be critical for the company to achieve its sustainability goals.
Human mobility is currently at a “crossroads,” he said, adding that the company recently surpassed one million EVs sold around the world.
“The acceptance of technology by consumers is critical in any transformation we want to do. And the first one that I see is obviously being more cost efficient so that we can provide a lower cost EVs to the masses,” he said.
Part of gaining acceptance among consumers, according to Boutin, is increasing the range of EVs. He said that “not so long ago” the company began selling the e-Golf, which featured a 200-kilometre range, followed by the ID.4 with a 400-kilometre range. Next year, the company will launch the ID.7 with a 700-kilometre range.
Another critical measure to drive consumer interest, Boutin said, is to build out EV charging networks. He said an example of this can be seen in Electrify Canada, a partnership founded in 2018 between Volkswagen Group Canada and Electrify America working to increase the availability of EV chargers across the country.
“The second (aspect) that is really also critical is to provide fast-speed chargers to the population in general, and this is where we come into play also in transforming our country because we're also investing extensively in fast chargers. Our goal is to get 45,000 fast chargers globally in China, Europe and North America,” Boutin said.
Part of the automotive company’s efforts to build out EV infrastructure involves increasing its presence in the supply chain, according to Boutin, as the company gets involved in the mining of critical minerals.
“We need more critical minerals. We want to understand the overall supply chain. So we're sitting down with a lot of people in the mining industries, we're starting to invest in mines also,” he said.
“It’s not our core business as such, but (we’re getting involved) because we need it so rapidly.”
Within Canada, Boutin said the company is aiming to source one million electric vehicle batteries at its upcoming plant in St. Thomas, Ont.
In March, Volkswagen announced plans to create a new electric vehicle battery plant in St. Thomas. The plant will be the first overseas cell manufacturing facility for PowerCo, the Volkswagen Group’s battery company.
Mitsui High-tec investing $100 million to
expand EV parts plant in Ontario
The Canadian Press
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Mitsui High-tec is investing more than $100 million to expand manufacturing operations in southwestern Ontario that produce a component needed for electric vehicles.
Ford says the investment into the plant in Branftord, Ont., will be used to manufacture motor cores, a piece used to make the motor that powers electric vehicles.
He says the company will open a new facility and create more than 100 jobs.
The province says Mitsui is the only company in Canada that creates motor core parts for electric and hybrid vehicles.
Ford says the province is investing $3.1 million for the expansion.
The investment is the latest in the province's push to become a leader in electric vehicle manufacturing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2023.
, Bloomberg News
Swedish manufacturer Northvolt AB is close to a deal to build an electric-vehicle battery plant near Montreal, a project that’s expected to be worth about $7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Canadian and Quebec governments are preparing to give financial aid to Northvolt that may be worth billions, following a similar agreement with Volkswagen AG to build an EV battery plant in Ontario, the people said. An announcement is likely to be made in the coming weeks, though negotiators are still working on final details, they said, speaking on condition they not be identified because the matter is private.
A deal with Northvolt would underscore Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ambitions for Canada to capture a sizable piece of the North American electric-vehicle supply chain, at a huge cost to the public purse. Trudeau’s government, and the government of Ontario, have pledged more than $14 billion to Volkswagen for its proposed factory in St. Thomas, Ontario.
They’re also in talks with Stellantis NV on a EV battery plant in the city of Windsor, Ontario, across the border from Detroit.
The amount of government money at stake is large because Canadian officials are trying to match the incentives companies would receive under the Inflation Reduction Act if they built their manufacturing facilities in the U.S. The U.S. law, signed by President Joe Biden last year, offers ongoing subsidies for the production of electric vehicle batteries, not simply the cost of constructing new plants.
The Northvolt project — to be built in Saint-Basile-le-Grand, about 25 kilometers east of Montreal — is to include a cathode factory, a battery cell assembly line and a recycling facility, the people said. If it is built to plan, it would be one of the largest private-sector investments ever in Quebec, Canada’s second most-populous province.
By choosing Quebec, Northvolt, which says its goal is to build the “world’s greenest battery,” will benefit from the province’s low-cost and clean hydroelectric power.
“Northvolt is currently doing a site study in North America, analyzing multiple possible locations in the U.S. and Canada. This process is still ongoing, and no final investment decision has been made,” Northvolt spokesperson Anders Thor said by email.
Stockholm-based Northvolt, founded by former Tesla Inc. executives in 2016, has a primary manufacturing site in Skelleftea, Sweden, and two other factories in the works in Europe. The company has partnerships with Volvo Group, BMW and Volkswagen and says it has more than US$55 billion in contracts.
Quebec has put a lot of effort into creating a hub for electric vehicle battery manufacturing. General Motors Co. and Posco Future M Co. have secured half of the financing for a proposed $600 million cathode plant in the city of Becancour from the provincial and federal governments. Ford Motor Co. and Germany’s BASF SE have also expressed interest in investing in the region.
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