According to Reuters, Thomas Schull, the head of Volkswagen Group's battery business, said that Volkswagen Group will not consider listing its battery business PowerCo until the battery factory starts and operates, and standardized battery cells are put into use, basically ruling out the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO) of its battery business before 2026.

　　Schmall said, "The second step is that IPO is still the future choice. However, this is the only issue to consider when the factory starts and operates, and standardized battery cells are put into use."

　　Image source: Volkswagen Group

　　In mid-2022, Volkswagen Group will split its battery business and plan to invest 20 billion euros (21.7 billion US dollars) in building a battery factory with partners, hoping to achieve a production capacity of 240 GWh by 2030, thereby better controlling the supply chain and helping it catch up with Tesla. According to Volkswagen Group's plan, its battery business will achieve sales of 20 billion euros by 2030.

　　As of now, PowerCo has announced that it will open battery factories in Salzgitter, Germany, Valencia, Spain, and Ontario, Canada in 2025, 2026, and 2027, respectively. Volkswagen Group plans to use standardized battery cells on at least 80% of its electric vehicles starting from 2025, so PowerCo may go public as early as 2026.

　　In addition, Schmall has also ruled out for the first time the possibility of building another factory in Europe. "From the perspective of competition and cost, this issue has not yet been discussed."

　　Due to high borrowing rates, the activity level of the IPO market dropped to its lowest level since 2016 last year. Chris Burns, CEO of battery material supplier Novonix, stated that "open market investors want to see cash flow." Burns stated that battery manufacturers need to sign supply agreements as soon as possible and establish strong partnerships with car manufacturers in order to gain trust.