Valmet Automotive builds its first battery factory Germany

The new battery factory, which will be the company’s third battery producing facility, is set to create around 160 jobs. The company already operates a battery factory in Salo, Finland. A second battery factory, directly attached to Valmet Automotive’s car plant in Uusikaupunki, is under construction and production there is scheduled to start in the latter half of 2021. The background to the launch a production plant in Germany is a recent nomination as a Tier 1 system supplier for a battery program by a German car manufacturer. Part of this contract is to produce the battery packs close to the customer in order to save resources and avoid unnecessary transportation. At the Kirchardt site, Valmet Automotive will have around 11'500 square meters of production space at its dispole. The conversion of the former print plant, getting it ready for complex battery production, is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2021. Pre-series production is scheduled to start in the first half of 2022. "The decision to build our third battery factory in Germany is the next important step to establish Valmet Automotive as a tier-1 system supplier of battery systems and modules. The Kirchardt site is perfect as it allows us to produce close to some of our important customers, but also to our engineering location and battery test center in Bad Friedrichshall," says Olaf Bongwald, CEO Valmet Automotive in a press release. The battery factory will create a total of around 160 jobs at the Kirchardt site, of which around 120 will be in production and 40 in administration and development. In parallel, Valmet Automotive says it is significantly expanding its capacities at its German engineering locations in Munich and Bad Friedrichshall and creating numerous new, highly qualified jobs in the field of electromobility.