Škoda Auto has opened a new battery assembly facility at its main plant in Mladá Boleslav, becoming the largest producer of BEV battery systems within the Volkswagen Group. The €205 million, 55,000 m² hall was built in under a year and is the first site in the Group’s European network to produce cell-to-pack battery systems for high-volume electric vehicles.

At full capacity the line completes more than 1,100 battery packs per day on a 60-second cycle, giving an annual output of up to 335,000 units. Automation covers around 84% of operations, with 131 industrial robots handling cell preparation, stacking, precision welding and pack assembly.

The technology inside the new packs differs substantially from the existing MEB battery. Škoda has adopted lithium iron phosphate chemistry in combination with a standardised cell format and a cell-to-pack approach that eliminates discrete modules, integrating cells directly into the pack structure. Together with full in-house processing, the company claims this delivers about a 30% reduction in battery product cost compared with current MEB batteries.

Škoda has produced approximately 1.4 million battery systems at Mladá Boleslav since 2019, supplying its own electrified models and vehicles from other Volkswagen Group brands. That operational base underpins the new line, which was developed in collaboration with Volkswagen Group Technology’s Center of Excellence Battery. Around 600 people have been retrained or newly hired for the facility.

Output from Mladá Boleslav will supply Škoda’s own electric models as well as vehicles from other brands within Volkswagen’s Brand Group Core, with annual capacity of up to 335,000 battery systems. The company states that the plant will be capable of producing up to 200,000 electric vehicles a year once the battery line reaches full operational rate. From 2026, two further BEV models will join the range: the Epiq, aimed at entry-level buyers, and the Peaq, which extends the upper end of the electric line-up.

Click here to read the latest issue of E-Mobility Engineering.