Porsche AG will develop and produce battery cells for electric sportscars in a new joint venture with German lithium-ion specialist Custom Cells GmbH.
The German brand is investing a high double-digit million euro sum and will control a 83.75% stake in the Cellforce venture, Porsche said Sunday in a statement. Small-scale production is set to start in 2024.
“The battery cell is the combustion chamber of the future,” Porsche said in its statement. The new subsidiary will play a major role for “research, development, manufacturing and sales of high-performance cells,” it said.
Traditional carmakers are stepping up expertise in battery technology to challenge Tesla Inc. and attract customers with improved driving ranges, performance and charging times. Batteries for sportscars need to cope with high temperatures and be capable of fast charging and effective energy recuperation.
The new cells will allow charging in less than 15 minutes, Porsche Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag. The brand’s Taycan model currently needs 22.5 minutes to charge the battery to 80% from 5%, he said.
Porsche will use silicon as anode material for higher energy density and a more compact battery. Its plant, located outside Stuttgart, will have an annual capacity of at least 100 megawatt hours, enough for making cells for about 1,000 sportscars per year.
Porsche development chief Michael Steiner said the company will continue to test its battery technology in motor sports, with experiences from the racetrack helping to refine technology for the Taycan that was introduced in 2019.
Volkswagen AG’s most profitable brand has added a more spacious version of the Taycan to its lineup this year and anticipates more than 80% of global deliveries will be fully or partly electric in 2030. The Taycan might soon eclipse Porsche’s combustion-era 911 model in global sales, and a fully-electric version of the bestselling Macan SUV is due to hit showrooms in 2023.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.