Unions: The VW Group could rent batteries in electric cars to customers

The Volkswagen Group could only rent batteries in electric cars to its customers. Every group brand would thus remain the owner of the batteries, thanks to which the price of new electric cars would fall. The representative of the Daniell Porsche Group's ownership family informed the Škoda Auto Supervisory Board about the deliberations, the weekly Škodovácký odborář said today.

"If someone worked out this business model, it would be a big shift. In addition, the battery can be used in many ways as a storage of electricity, for example as a large power bank, which we use on a smaller scale today to charge mobile phones where there is not enough electricity. It would be useful for us to be able to recycle them to our advantage," said Jaroslav Povšík, Chairman of the Škoda Auto Corporate Council.

According to Povšík, the batteries are full of hard-to-reach precious metals and "almost 100% recycling would create another dimension for e-mobility," he said. "If I want to compare the rental of batteries to something, for example, we can also borrow a gas bottle for the stove or grill, a siphon bomb and many other bottles are also backed up," the chairman added.

The Supervisory Board also addressed the lack of chips for production. "Currently, Asian brands are winning, such as Hyundai and Kia, which have a better supply of chips from Asia and even receive better chips," said Povšík. Due to the lack of chips, production at the Czech plants of Škoda Auto will stop completely next week, the shutdown will start here today, only the completion of work-in-progress cars, which are unfinished, will be shut down due to missing chips.

According to unions, problems with the lack of chips can be expected until the middle of next year. "Chips are the number one risk, but it's not the only problem. Every week we sit and plan or delete shifts. It's not an easy situation," said Povšík. Shifts will be canceled in the week of October 4.

Last year, Škoda Auto delivered over one million cars worldwide. It operates three production plants in the Czech Republic, produces in China, Russia, Slovakia and India, mostly through group partnerships, as well as in Ukraine and Kazakhstan in cooperation with local partners. It is active in more than 100 markets.

Source: Unions and CTK