Samsung SDI, which is one of the big suppliers of batteries for the Volkswagen group, would have decided to largely reduce the airfoil in its supply contract, passing from 20 GWh to only 5 GWh. If this turns out, Volkswagen Group will have to fall back on other suppliers so as not to find itself in shortage of batteries.
The problem with the electric car is that manufacturers can no longer be content to “simply” make cars. They must also think about the charging network (which Tesla does, but also the German brands with Ionity), and ensure a sufficient supply of batteries to produce large quantities of electric cars.
And for that, no choice: you have to look to the East, on the side of Asia, where the main suppliers are located. Samsung SDI, the Korean, is one of them, and negotiations had started with 20 GWh of batteries sent to the Volkswagen group (enough to produce around 100,000 Audi e-tron, or 200,000 Volkswagen ID), but Bloomberg announces that these same negotiations would finally have resulted in a contract for 5 GWh of batteries. Much less than what Volkswagen would probably have wanted at the start.
Why would Samsung SDI have decided to revise downwards such a juicy contract when there is Chinese competition, with CATL? Samsung SDI, like other companies in the sector, is in a strong position, like other battery giants, and the company could, why not, allow itself to “choose” and favor local manufacturers, such as Kia or Hyundai.
The battery will remain the nerve of the war for the manufacturers, and analysts estimate that the Volkswagen group will need approximately 300 GWh of batteries in 10 years to ensure the volumes of electric vehicles planned in the plans.
