The battery strategies of the German car manufacturers

Dusseldorf, Munich A new technology should make the batteries of electric Porsche models significantly more powerful in the future. Thanks to the innovative silicon anodes, the batteries could store up to 50 percent more energy and thus a range in the future – initially in the lithium-ion batteries that are common today, and in a few years also in solid-state models. The batteries are being developed by the US manufacturer Group 14, in which Porsche has now also acquired a stake.

The Porsche parent Volkswagen and the other major German car manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and BMW are currently working on their way into the future of battery technology. They are pursuing quite different strategies for procuring the central batteries for their electric cars.

VW is building its own battery cell factories together with partners. Mercedes is researching its own cells, but has them built by battery cell manufacturers in which the company has a stake, and then assembles them into battery packs itself. BMW has the cells produced by completely external partners, but researches their further development itself.