New battery production at Valmet's Uusikaupunki vehicle production site

Beside Salo, Uusikaupunki will be the second plant with high-volume battery system production. Valmet Automotive says that the expansion is a key step in the implementation of the strategy to establish the company as a Tier-1 system supplier for battery systems and modules. The battery factory in Uusikaupunki is scheduled to go into operation in the latter half of 2021. The vehicle manufacturing will stay as a major operation at the Uusikaupunki site. But one of the main goals in the further development is to establish a high-voltage and high-volume battery system production as another product in addition to the car manufacturing. Simultaneously, Valmet Automotive also started construction works to expand the battery system production at the battery plant in Salo, Finland, which went into production by October 2019. "With the decision to establish a high-volume battery system production in Uusikaupunki, we are opening a strong additional growth perspective to our largest and most important plant. Combining car manufacturing and battery system production in one plant additional to our Salo plant nearby, we do not just offer a unique package to our customers, but also make an important contribution to protecting the environment," says Olaf Bongwald, CEO Valmet Automotive, in the press release. Valmet Automotive has been running a battery system production for small series for years in Uusikaupunki, a battery test center included. There, the main focus of testing activities has been so far on battery systems for industrial applications.