Seat to build Spain’s first battery plant

Parent company Volkswagen has given the green light to Seat to proceed with its industrial reconversion plan. This helps Spain maintain its number two position as a car manufacturing nation in Europa and become a key production hub for electromobility. Doubt about the project had arisen after Volkswagen deemed the government aid as insufficient.

The final approval means that Seat can begin with the construction of a battery plant near Valencia, Spain’s first and only while adapting its existing factory in Pamplona for the manufacturing of small electric cars. Crossovers like the VW ID.2 X and Skoda Elroq will be built there. Their corresponding hatchback versions will roll off the assembly line in Martorell.

Seat’s Gigafactory will provide these plants with 40 GWh of battery cells annually, starting production in 2026. It is one of the six battery plants VW has scheduled in Europe by 2030

Alla according to PERTE plan

To support the investment, the Volkswagen Group applied for support through the official PERTE plan (€2 billion), which aims at reshaping Spain’s industry in the wake of the net-zero transition. The German car group targets an ambitious and holistic value chain, reaching from local lithium mining to car production.

Though Seat raked in the largest payment of the funding’s first round, worth almost 400 million euros, the Germans doubted if it would suffice to proceed with the project. After renewed negotiations, Volkswagen, planning an investment of 10 billion euros in the nation’s automotive electrification program, gave the go-ahead.

Image source: Seat