Porsche announced yesterday that they’ve begun a joint venture with battery company CustomCells. Porsche’s new EV battery company is called Cellforce Group. It’s mission: to go where no electric sports car has gone before. (Or, more succinctly, to produce batteries for electric cars.)

What is Porsche’s new EV battery company all about?

Porsche has been working toward building their lineup of electric vehicles. Porsche has a goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030 while still offering all of their sports car favorites. Recently Porsche hinted at an affordable electric car joining their forces in the future. Right now Porsche has an electric Taycan and is in the process of producing an electric Macan. The Macan will be available in 2023.

To fuel these EV dreams, Porsche is looking at making their own electric batteries. They’re not the only car manufacturer looking to do this. Ford recently announced the formation of BlueOvalSK, a joint venture with SK Innovation to create batteries for its own electric vehicle lineup. In addition to Ford, other car companies are doing the same, or looking to do the same thing. 

Porsche’s Cellforce Group will be developing the EV batteries at Porsche’s Weissach, Germany location. The current headquarters for Cellforce is Tübingen. Porsche hasn’t decided a spot for the factory that will actually build the batteries. Tübingen is on the list of possibilities, due to its proximity to both Weissach and Porsche’s headquarters in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

What does this mean for Porsche and its cars?

“The battery cell is the combustion chamber of the future,” said Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche. This echoes Porsche’s intent to be carbon neutral by 2030. Porsche sees where the future of cars is headed. They’ve never been behind the curve, and they’re not about to be now.

The joint venture is likely to create jobs for Porsche, too. Right now the company is each contributing some employees to Cellforce, totaling 13. This number may grow up to 80 in the next four years. Cellforce Group will not only be researching battery development and use, but also actually producing and selling the battery cells as well. 

Germany is moving toward electric vehicles and carbon neutrality. Additionally, the mayor of Tübingen, Boris Palmer, said that Porsche’s new EV battery company was in line with Tübingen’s mission to be carbon neutral by 2030. The Federal Republic of Germany and Baden-Württemberg is funding the project.

How will the electric car batteries work?

Porsche’s new electric vehicle batteries will use silicon. Porsche says they will be using a new chemistry which will reduce the battery’s internal resistance. Using silicon in car batteries allows them to charge faster because the silicon absorbs lithium ions quickly. Silicon also increases the energy density. This will allow the batteries to be more powerful while remaining small. 

The CEO of Customcells, Torge Thönnessen, says that the production goals for the new plant are 100 MWh per year. This would be enough to produce batteries for 1,000 vehicles. 

As more and more car manufacturers move toward electric vehicles, we are likely to see an increase in these types of joint ventures. The more companies that participate in electric vehicle battery research, development and production, the better quality batteries we’ll have, and with longer range. Of course all of this will be good for the environment, too.