11:35 am, June 21, 2021
Porsche has teamed up with German firm Customcells to develop high-performance battery packs that could slash charging times.
The ‘Cellforce’ project will see the two firms building batteries with a higher energy density than those used in Porsche’s existing electric vehicles.
They will be made in the brand new Weissach Development Centre in Customcells’ hometown of Tübingen.
The site will initially employ 13 engineers, rising to 80 by 2025 and hopes to make enough batteries every year to power around 1,000 EVs.
The scheme, in which Porsche has an 83.75 per cent stake, has already received a whopping £51.5m (€60m) of funding from the German government and the state of Baden-Württemberg.
Making higher density batteries will cut charging times, reduce the amount of raw material needed and cut production costs.
It is hoped the batteries will also be suited to motorsport.
The venture is separate from the Volkswagen Group’s six planned European gigafactories but other bands in the company could benefit from the technology down the line.
Michal Steiner, boss of Research and Development at Porsche, said: ‘The first task is to get a significant advantage in volumetric energy density, as well as high-temperature sustainability.
‘If we see a potential to come down with the cost of cells, there might be a chance for higher volume, but this is not the task I gave the team.
‘Our plan is for Porsche to be the first customer, but definitely, if this technology is attractive as a high-performance solution, it will be also open for other brands in the Volkswagen Group.’
The technology could also be applied to Rimac, which Porsche has a 24 per cent stake in.
