The German automotive supplier Dräxlmaier has opened its new plant for the production of high-voltage battery systems in Leipzig. The 800-volt battery systems for the all-electric Porsche Macan, which will roll off the production line at Porsche Leipzig, will be manufactured there.
With the opening, the company is expanding its production network in Germany to a total of three highly automated battery plants and thus underscoring the importance of the country as a strategically important technology location.
The opening in Leipzig was significantly delayed. The Bavarian supplier had already celebrated the topping-out ceremony in October 2020. At that time, it was still said that the assembly of the battery systems in the 28,000 square metre hall not far from the Porsche plant in the north of Leipzig would begin in July 2021.
The delay in the start-up of battery assembly largely corresponds to the delay with which Porsche’s E-Macan is also coming onto the market. Porsche’s 800-volt electric car, originally planned for 2022 and based on the new PPE electric platform, will not go on sale until 2024, as is well known – due to delays in the software. It is known that the battery will have a total capacity of around 100 kWh and will consist of twelve modules with prismatic cells. The mixing ratio of nickel, cobalt and manganese in the cells is 8:1:1.
