As Porsche aims to expand its electric vehicle (EV) line-up beyond just the Porsche Taycan, the German automaker and its joint venture partner, Customcells, announced plans for a new battery factory which would be located near Weissach, Germany. This factory aims to be functional by 2024.

As part of this partnership, a new Porsche subsidiary, Cellforce Group, is formed that will be in charge of research, development, production, and sale of high-performance battery cells.

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The brand-new production facility is aiming to reach a minimum annual capacity of 100 MWh, equivalent to high-performance batteries for 1,000 vehicles. It also received a €60 million (RM 296 million) investment from the German government and the state of Baden-Württemberg where the factory will be located.

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Compared to the 35 GWh “Gigafactory” jointly-owned by Tesla and Panasonic in Nevada, U.S.A., Porsche’s battery factory will be smaller in scale. The initial workforce is expected to grow from around 13 people to up to 80 by 2025.

While chemical company BASF SE will be selected to supply the cathode material, the anode material will be made out of silicon which Porsche says will significantly boost the energy density and capacity to withstand high temperatures.

As such, production of Porsche’s batteries will be challenging and not for use in high volume passenger cars. However, the technology would work on performance cars which Porsche specializes in.

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Initially, the first vehicles to use these batteries will be Porsches but the technology will eventually be shared with other brands in the Volkswagen Group including Lamborghini and Bugatti. Nevertheless, Porsche’s sports car legacy will continue even in an electrified world.

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