Volkswagen Group is establishing its electric-vehicle battery company’s Canadian headquarters in St. Thomas, Ont., now hiring staff and seeking suppliers to its gigafactory.
PowerCo Canada Inc. will operate the automaker’s biggest electric-vehicle battery plant in the world in the city, about 30 kilometres south of London. The company is preparing for groundbreaking and start of construction in 2024.
Volkswagen Group said in a statement that PowerCo Canada “will steer all activities of the battery company in North America.”
PowerCo Canada will work with the province of Ontario and the city of St. Thomas, along with local colleges, to prepare the Canadian labour force for the jobs and processes in the emerging EV and EV battery industries.
The St. Thomas plant will have an annual maximum production capacity of up to 90 GWh — enough to supply one million electric vehicles, Volkswagen Canada said.
Production is set to start in 2027. About 3,000 people will work at the plant at peak production.
In order to build supply chains and attract “suitable additional suppliers to St. Thomas,” the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, in liaison with the PowerCo procurement department, recently hosted a webinar during which 500 participants were introduced to the PowerCo sourcing strategy, as well as location advantages.
