Status: 25.11.2021 4:54 p.m.
The Volkswagen Group is also targeting high-ranking employees of the competition when expanding its battery business for electric cars. Apple and BMW have now found what they are looking for.
The Volkswagen Group has poached two key battery technology experts from Apple and BMW. This underlines the growing importance of this business for the Wolfsburg-based company.
Volkswagen has confirmed that it has signed Apple’s head of battery development, Soonho Ahn. Information on the South Korean’s gain in work was initially not given. For years, Apple has been said to have strong ambitions both to enter the field of electric cars and to dedicate itself intensively to the field of autonomous driving.
The future of solid-state batteries
They have also found what they are looking for with competitor BMW. Jörg Hoffmann will come from there, most recently specializing in solid cell technology. The “Manager-Magazin” had previously reported on both changes. The Wolfsburg-based Sebastian Wolf from the Chinese battery cell manufacturer Farasis was only hired in September.
Solid-state batteries have long been considered to be particularly promising in terms of charging speed and capacity. However, it has not yet been possible to develop this technology for electric cars until it is ready for the market.
In the solid matter sector, VW invested in the US company Quantumscape a few years ago. An IPO of the battery division is considered a possible option for further financing.