Customcells – Cellforce Group sets up battery cell production in Kirchentellinsfurt near Reutlingen.
Cellforce Group GmbH (CFG) will build its development and production facility for high-performance battery cells in the intermunicipal economic area of Reutlingen-Nord/Kirchentellinsfurt. This was decided by the boards of the shareholders Porsche AG and CUSTOMCELLS® after thorough examination of all options.
There were several locations in Baden-Württemberg to choose from. The decisive factor in favor of the industrial area between Reutlingen and Tübingen was primarily its geographical location.
CUSTOMCELLS® is one of the leading companies in the fields of development and series production of special lithium-ion battery cells. The company already has its own production site in Tübingen. The university town was also on the shortlist for the location of Cellforce’s battery factory.
Leopold König, CEO of CUSTOMCELLS®.
Thanks to the good cooperation with the city, we were able to find an area in the neighboring region of Tübingen that meets the requirements of the project and at the same time offers spatial proximity to our series production in Tübingen.
High-performance battery cells for 1,000 vehicles per year
For the production site, the joint venture between Porsche AG and CUSTOMCELLS® is acquiring a 28,151-square-meter area in the Reutlingen-Nord/Kirchentellinsfurt industrial park. A production facility is to be built on this from 2022 onwards, which will initially manufacture high-performance battery cells for 1,000 vehicles per year.
Their capacity is 100 MWh per year. Production is scheduled to start in 2024. It is conceivable that the Cellforce battery cells will be installed in an electrically powered Porsche model with a high-performance drive.
Thomas Keck, Mayor of the City of Reutlingen, welcomes the Cellforce Group’s decision to locate here:
Together with our very committed employees, we have succeeded in convincing Cellforce of the advantages of our location and the technology site.
“This settlement will significantly strengthen the already existing electromobility cluster. In addition, the regional centre of Reutlingen Tübingen and our already existing good economic cooperation will be consolidated.”
Bernd Haug, mayor of the municipality of Kirchentellinsfurt, says:
The settlement of Cellforce’s factory of the future gives new impetus to the joint economic area.
“But it also encourages us to further expand inter-municipal cooperation. “
The Federal Republic of Germany and the state of Baden-Württemberg are funding the project with around 60 million euros. In the meantime, the Cellforce Group has received notification of funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics as part of the European IPCEI project EuBatIn (Important Project of Common European Interest – European Battery Innovation).
The aim of this project is to establish a competitive European value chain for lithium-ion batteries.
Markus Gräf, Chief Operating Officer of the Cellforce Group.
For us, the proximity of as many project partners as possible is the central prerequisite for rapid success.
Cellforce deliberately relies on cooperation with several partner companies.
“This has been extremely successful in the field of cell chemistry, so we will also transfer this to production,” says Gräf. “In addition, it is only a stone’s throw to our current location in Tübingen and to the development of Porsche AG in Weissach via the nearby B27 federal highway,” the COO continues.
Battery cells with short charging times and high heat resistance
The chemistry of the new high-performance cells relies on silicon as the anode material. This makes it possible to significantly increase the energy density compared to current series batteries. The battery can be more compact with the same energy content. The new chemistry also reduces the internal resistance of the battery.
As a result, the battery can absorb more energy during recuperation and is also more efficient during rapid charging. Another special feature of the Cellforce battery cell is that it is more resistant to high temperatures.
The cell development partner for the next generation of the lithium-ion battery is BASF; as part of the collaboration, the world’s leading chemical company is exclusively providing high-energy HED TMNCM cathode materials for high-performance cells that enable fast charging and high energy density.
Torge Thönnessen, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Cellforce and co-founder of CUSTOMCELLS®.
High-performance batteries are the power source that combine Porsche feeling and driving with sustainability.
“With production in Kirchentellinsfurt, we are writing the next chapter of battery cell technology ‘Made in Germany’.”
CUSTOMCELLS® acquires further shares in the Cellforce Group
The Cellforce Group develops and produces high-performance lithium-ion pouch cells for special automotive applications. Porsche AG originally held an 83.75 percent stake in the company, with Customcells Holding GmbH holding the remaining shares. At the end of the year, CUSTOMCELLS® acquired further shares, so that the distribution is now 72.717 percent (Porsche AG) and 27.283 percent (CUSTOMCELLS®).
The managing directors are Markus Gräf as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Wolfgang Hüsken as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Torge Thönnessen as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). By 2025, the workforce is expected to grow from the current 23 employees to around 100 people.
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CELLFORCE GROUP SETS UP PRODUCTION IN KIRCHENTELLINSFURT NEAR REUTLINGEN, December 17, 2021
