Audi is establishing a high-voltage battery development at the Neckarsulm site (Key statements)
Audi is expanding its development of high-voltage batteries and banking on the Neckarsulm location for that. With that strategic decision, technical development will be intensified for the future and Neckarsulm will become a center of competency for a key electromobility technology. Additionally, a battery center for testing high-voltage storage technologies will go into operation by 2023. Further proof that Audi is transforming its locations and setting the course for the age of electric mobility.
Oliver Hoffmann (Member of the Board for Technical Development):
- “High-voltage batteries and electric engines make up an important strategic component of future value creation in a transformed auto industry. That is why we are systematically expanding our competency in developing these components.”
- “The high-voltage energy-storage system is the component that promises the greatest competitive edge. The fact that we are expanding our competencies in this field is therefore an important investment in the future of the Neckarsulm development site and its employees. We are initially focusing on training and knowledge building. In the coming years, HV batteries will be developed here for various fully electric Audi models.”
- “We are orienting our Technical Development unit toward the future: with systems engineering, we are revolutionizing the way we develop cars. With this integrated approach, we are mastering the increasing complexity in development.
Fred Schulze (Neckarsulm Plant Manager):
- “The company’s investment decision to locate high-voltage battery development and a battery facility in Neckarsulm is a clear commitment to electrification and with it the site’s long-term security.”
- “A course for an electric future will be set at this site. New buildings are being constructed, the e-tron GT is rolling off the assembly line in the Böllinger Höfe, and now high-voltage battery development and testing will follow.”
Rolf Klotz (Chairman of the Works Council, AUDI AG plant, Neckarsulm):
- “The decision to locate battery development in Neckarsulm is an important first step toward giving the Technical Development staff at that location a secure outlook on the future even after combustion engines have been discontinued. Consequently, Audi is banking on the high competency of its employees in Neckarsulm to successfully shape the future of electromobility.”
- “We have the Technical Development unit at the site. We are very proud of it and have always defended it against any attempt to relocate it. For that reason, as the works council, we are also particularly glad that high-voltage battery development will now be located at the site. That decision is an important part of the needed transformation that the staff in Neckarsulm is preparing bit by bit for the future and the post-combustion engine era.”
Stephan Reil (Head of Technical Development, Neckarsulm):
- “I know how much of our colleagues’ lifeblood goes into their projects every day. Now they are approaching knowledge building and therefore transformation into the emerging field of electromobility with the same motivation.”
- “We don’t want the battery system – the largest component in an electric car – to be separate from structural components anymore. For that reason, we are pushing collaboration toward a whole-vehicle perspective. At the Neckarsulm site, we are bringing body and HV energy storage development together directly and thereby enhancing synergies. By doing that, we are building a bridge to light construction and thus forming a symbiosis for maximally efficient cars from Audi.”