Volkswagen’s Affordable EV Plans Have a New Chinese Partner
Gotion takes almost half of PowerCo's Valencia site and the controlling stake in two further ventures, one of them a cathode plant in Morocco, in a package Volkswagen (read more here) (learn more) describes as strengthening Europe's battery industry.
September 29, 2026 - 4:45 pm
The entrance to the Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, photographed in September 2025.
Credit: Harrison Keely / CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
Volkswagen has agreed three joint ventures with China’s Gotion to build lithium iron phosphate battery capacity:
- Gotion takes 49% of PowerCo’s Valencia plant and takes minority stakes in a Slovak cell plant and a Moroccan cathode plant.
- Volkswagen controls 51% of the Valencia site.
One of the ventures is located outside of Europe:
- The Moroccan cathode plant in Kenitra produces 100,000 tonnes of cathode material annually.
Investments total approximately:
- EUR 2.26B for Valencia
- EUR 480M each for the Slovak and Moroccan ventures.
The Valencia investment was originally projected for 2027, but has been pushed to 2029.
The move comes as:
- A 2023 report by Transport and Environment suggested Europe could produce all its own cells by 2027, ending its reliance on Chinese imports.
- Stellantis and CATL are building a 50 GWh lithium iron phosphate plant in Zaragoza, Spain, set to start production next year.
Volkswagen cites the chemistry as a key technology for affordable electric mobility in the volume segment, aiming for a European share of 40-60% by 2030.