Volkswagen, Northvolt join forces for battery research

FRANKFURT – Volkswagen Group will join with Swedish battery maker Northvolt to lead a consortium to promote battery research in Europe.

The European Battery Union (EBU) will incorporate research and industry partners from seven EU member states starting in early 2020. Activities will include battery research covering topics from raw materials through to cell technology and recycling.

"All the partners will step up their investments as a result of the planned additional research activities," VW said in a statement.

The partners could seek funds from the German economy ministry, VW said.

Germany has earmarked 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) to support a consortium looking to produce electric car cells and plans to fund an r&d center to develop next-generation solid-state batteries.

More than 30 companies have applied for the program to support the production of battery cells, the Economy Ministry said earlier this month.