Volkswagen shares up as company announces to switch EV battery type

Volkswagen has recently announced that they plan to slowly switch the type of battery used in their electric vehicles. Sources say that the company is planning to use the prismatic type of battery, which means that the company will be turning to China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology for supplies.

Some experts say that one of the key reasons why Volkswagen decided to switch might be to enhance the safety of electric vehicles as prismatic batteries are considered to have lower energy density than pouch-type batteries.

The shares of the company continue to increase. The shares of the company have previously surged to the highest level in 12 years after the tweet of the company CEO hinting at the possible changes.

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Traders are advised to follow indicators and get up-to-date with the ongoing events in the market before making any decisions about their positions.  A week prior, the company also announced that it was speeding up its transformation to EV maker. It also doubled the forecast for the share of battery-powered cars in Europe and said that it would be 70% by 2030. The company also noted that EV car sales would also increase to more than 50% in China and the US by 2030.

Volkswagen shares prices

The chart above shows the price movements of the shares of Volkswagen over the past year. As it can be seen on the chart, the shares have dropped drastically when the Covid-19 first spread globally. The shares had a somewhat hard time getting back to the pre-pandemic levels, however, recently, the shares have managed to go back to the pre-pandemic situation.

Even more than that, last week, the shares of Volkswagen were selling at 12-year highs. The company representatives have long been talking about the importance of EVs and say that in the near future the sales of such cars will increase drastically. To achieve its goals, the company requires about 300 gigawatt-hours worth of battery cells a year by the end of the decade. As of now, the company sources its batteries from LG Chem, Samsung SDI, SK Innovation, and CATL, however, it might change in the future.

The company follows other car manufacturers in this direction and said that it plans to invest as much as $19 billion in electrification and digital services by 2025. Over the next few years, VW expects to release at least one new electric vehicle a year.

The company has also announced that it has decided to cut jobs by offering partial and early retirement to some staff. The company said that it would offer partial retirement options for employees born in 1961, 1962 or 1964, and offer early retirement for staff born between 1956 and 1960. It said that the company expects up to 900 employees to choose early retirement and a low four-digit number.