Centre of power

The electric age at Audi is well underway and from 2026, the brand will bring only new electric models to market. The internal combustion engine (ICE) will continue to be refined until it is ultimately phased out in the 2030s, so the focus is very much on electric drives.

To that end, high-voltage battery development and production has become a major focus for the brand, and Neckarsulm is to become an e-mobility hub with even greater emphasis on battery development and construction at the site.

Audi is already developing high-voltage batteries for plug-in hybrids (PHEV) in Neckarsulm, which means that the core components already exist and make it the perfect place to centre the development of complete high-voltage battery portfolios for fully electric vehicles moving forward. In addition, a battery centre for testing high-voltage storage technologies will go into operation there by 2023 which will also be used as something of a laboratory for pilot projects and as a place to train employees in the new high-voltage storage modules for various electric vehicles.

“High-voltage batteries and electric engines make up an important strategic component of future value creation in a transformed auto industry,” says Oliver Hoffmann, Member of the Board for Technical Development at Audi.

“That is why we are systematically expanding our competency in developing these components.”

Since late last year, Audi has trained employees in the Neckarsulm Technical Development unit for the field of high-voltage energy storage systems and more and more employees will be brought into this field in the coming years. To become specialists in this field, Audi employees in the Technical Development unit have access to various advanced training opportunities, and personnel in high-voltage battery development – in continued close collaboration with high-voltage battery development at the Ingolstadt site – will be located primarily in Neckarsulm.

Of course Neckarsulm has long been a hub for high performance within the Audi brand, with the R8 supercar and now the electric supercars, the Audi e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT all built at the Böllinger Höfe facility. Likewise the plug-in hybrids and mild hybrids of the A6, A7, and A8 models all roll out of the Neckarsulm facility, making it the perfect choice for the concentration of e-models and technology now and well into the future.

Construction of a range of new facilities at the site is already well underway, with a multi-function building for the Technical Development unit due to be completed later this year and a new paint shop by 2025, while a new building for assembly is already geared toward mixed production and future e-models.