Volkswagen plans to build half a dozen battery cell plants in Europe and expand infrastructure for charging electric vehicles globally, accelerating efforts to overtake Tesla and speed up mass adoption of battery-powered cars.
The world's No. 2 carmaker, which is in the midst of a major shift toward battery-powered cars, said on Monday it wants to have six battery cell factories operating in Europe by 2030, which it will build alone or with partners.
"Our transformation will be fast, it will be unprecedented," Chief Executive Herbert Diess told Volkswagen's Power Day, which also featured the CEOs of BP, Enel and Iberdrola in an effort to match some of the buzz of Tesla's Battery Day last September.