The purchase order involves LFP Unified Cell products with the same design style and specifications as those for the Chinese market for Volkswagen’s full range of NEVs.
Gotion High-tech, a Chinese power battery manufacturer, has become a supplier to Volkswagen for the German automaker’s overseas markets, furthering the partnership between the two.
Gotion’s wholly-owned subsidiary Hefei Gotion High-tech Power Energy Co Ltd recently received a procurement letter from Volkswagen, making the company a designated supplier for the automaker’s overseas markets, according to a stock exchange announcement on May 10.
This is the latest collaboration between Gotion and Volkswagen, which is its important backer, after becoming the designated production point for Volkswagen’s NCM and LFP products in China in early 2022.
The purchase order relates to LFP Unified Cell products, which will be used in Volkswagen’s models in markets outside of China.
These cells use the same design style and specifications as the Chinese market and are intended for use in Volkswagen’s full range of NEVs, according to the announcement.
Volkswagen and Gotion have had a long-standing relationship, with a strategic cooperation framework agreement reached in July 2021 in which Gotion developed the first generation of Unified Cells for Volkswagen’s regular production models in China.
In December 2021, Volkswagen China increased its stake in Gotion to 26.47 percent, making it the largest shareholder of the Chinese battery maker.
Unified Cells can significantly reduce costs by adopting a unified design standard and are expected to cover 80 percent of Volkswagen‘s models in the future, according to Gotion’s press release.
In early 2022, Gotion was awarded the official production point for Volkswagen China’s NCM and LFP Unified Cells. In February this year, the company won the Volkswagen Cell Test Lab qualification.
In addition, construction of a high-nickel NCM material project built by Volkswagen’s private placement has begun in Lujiang, Hefei, and is expected to go into production this year, Gotion said in the press release.
The 20GWh Volkswagen Unified Cell project in Xinzhan, Hefei, has almost completed the main workshop and supporting buildings and is expected to start production in the second half of this year, Gotion said.
Gotion is one of the largest power battery makers, with 2.9 GWh installed in the first quarter, ranking 8th globally with a 2.2 percent share, according to data released earlier this month by South Korean market research firm SNE Research.
This article was first published by Phate Zhang on CnEVPost, a website focusing on new energy vehicle news from China.
