'Not Economically Viable': Porsche Cancels Plans For In-House Battery Production
-Porsche will no longer pursue plans to make its own high-performance battery cells, calling the pursuit "not economically viable."
-The carmaker said slower demand for EVs in the U.S. was part of the reason why it shelved its battery plans.
-Porsche's battery division, Cellforce, will shift focus to R&D instead.
Porsche is abandoning its plans to manufacture high-performance electric vehicle batteries through its subsidiary Cellforce due to slower-than-expected demand for EVs and challenging market conditions in the U.S. and China. The company will scale down Cellforce operations, shifting its focus from production to research and development. Around 200 of Cellforce’s nearly 300 employees are expected to be laid off, though some may be absorbed by Volkswagen Group’s battery subsidiary PowerCo.
Originally, Porsche had ambitious plans for Cellforce to produce up to 20 GWh of batteries annually to serve its EV lineup, including models like the Taycan and Macan Electric. However, due to lack of economies of scale and insufficient global volume of EV sales, Porsche concluded that the business model was not economically viable. Market demand in key regions remains weaker than anticipated, impacted further by U.S. import tariffs and policy changes.
This move reflects a broader consolidation trend in the battery industry, where smaller European efforts struggle to compete with mature, large-scale Chinese producers like CATL and BYD who dominate the market with lower costs and high-tech batteries. Porsche will now rely more heavily on external battery suppliers while using Cellforce's R&D to support the wider Volkswagen Group’s EV programs.
Porsche's EV sales are steadily growing, with about 36% of global sales in H1 2025 being EVs or hybrids, but the harsh economics of battery manufacturing are forcing a strategic retreat from in-house cell production.
https://insideevs.com/news/770046/porsche-cancels-ev-battery-manufacturing-plans/