A supply agreement between OCSiAl and PowerCo, the battery company of Volkswagen Group, strengthens Serbia’s position within Europe’s electric vehicle supply chain by connecting advanced materials manufacturing in Serbia with one of the continent’s largest battery-cell production programmes.
- Battery materials gain strategic importance
- Unified Cell strategy expands supplier requirements
- Serbia facility supports European battery supply
- Regional manufacturing shifts beyond raw materials
- European localisation supports advanced suppliers
- Performance improvements extend beyond raw materials
- Battery ecosystem expands across specialised suppliers
- Automotive qualification strengthens long-term supplier relationships
The agreement covers the supply of TUBALL™ single-wall carbon nanotubes for PowerCo’s battery-cell plant in Salzgitter, Germany, where production of Volkswagen’s Unified Cell has already begun. The arrangement highlights the increasing importance of specialised battery materials alongside large-scale investments in gigafactories and cell manufacturing capacity.
Battery materials gain strategic importance
PowerCo’s Salzgitter facility is designed as the reference site for Volkswagen’s standardised Unified Cell production platform. Initial manufacturing capacity is planned at 20 GWh, with expansion potential to 40 GWh, while the production model is intended to support future battery plants in Spain and Canada.
The selection of materials suppliers has become increasingly significant as battery manufacturers seek improvements in charging performance, cycle life, energy density, safety, internal resistance and manufacturing efficiency. Conductive additives have become an important component of this process despite representing a relatively small share of total battery materials.
Single-wall carbon nanotubes create conductive and mechanically stable networks inside battery electrodes, helping maintain electrical connectivity during charging and discharging. Their role becomes increasingly relevant as manufacturers develop thicker electrodes, silicon-rich anodes, fast-charging technologies and lower-cost production methods.
Unified Cell strategy expands supplier requirements
For Volkswagen, the Unified Cell programme is intended to simplify battery production across brands while supporting multiple chemistries, including NMC, LFP and potentially future solid-state battery technologies. Within this manufacturing platform, suppliers of enabling materials become integrated into battery performance and production processes rather than serving solely as commodity vendors.
For OCSiAl, the agreement supports its strategy of commercialising single-wall carbon nanotubes for large-scale industrial applications. The company has developed TUBALL™ for batteries, polymers, elastomers, coatings and other advanced materials, promoting low loading levels that enhance conductivity and mechanical reinforcement while limiting additional weight and preserving material characteristics.
Serbia facility supports European battery supply
The agreement also highlights the role of OCSiAl’s manufacturing operation in Serbia, where the company completed a production facility for water-based dispersions of single-wall carbon nanotubes.
The Serbian plant has a stated annual production capacity of 3,000 metric tonnes and was established to support high-performance battery manufacturing while supplying customers across Europe through a regional production base. Although Serbia does not manufacture finished battery cells for Volkswagen, the facility supplies an advanced material incorporated into the European battery production chain, positioning the country within a higher-value segment of the industry.
Regional manufacturing shifts beyond raw materials
The investment illustrates an alternative route into the European battery economy for Southeast European manufacturers.
Rather than relying primarily on lithium mining, raw material extraction or large-scale battery-cell assembly, the supply chain increasingly includes specialised materials, dispersions, industrial process expertise and supplier qualification. This positions Serbia as a manufacturing location for advanced industrial inputs supplied directly to European automotive production platforms. Such activities depend on industrial production capabilities, customer qualification and consistent manufacturing performance rather than resource extraction or large-scale mining developments.
European localisation supports advanced suppliers
The agreement comes as Europe continues efforts to strengthen regional battery supply chains despite slower electric vehicle demand growth, higher energy costs and increased competition from Asian manufacturers. Policy initiatives including the EU Battery Regulation and the Critical Raw Materials Act continue supporting more transparent, traceable and regionally diversified battery supply networks.
Within this framework, locally manufactured advanced battery materials supplied to a major European battery platform gain strategic importance beyond their production volumes. The Salzgitter site also forms part of Volkswagen’s strategy to establish greater control over battery technology through integrated cell production, research and development, workforce transition and standardised manufacturing processes.
Performance improvements extend beyond raw materials
The agreement reflects broader changes in battery manufacturing economics, where competitiveness increasingly depends not only on raw material prices but also on production efficiency and cell performance.
Battery manufacturers are seeking improvements in charging speed, durability and operational safety while reducing manufacturing scrap, increasing production yields, extending battery life and improving energy density.
Conductive additives based on single-wall carbon nanotubes support these objectives by strengthening electrical continuity and mechanical stability within battery electrodes, particularly under demanding charging conditions and in silicon-rich anode designs.
Battery ecosystem expands across specialised suppliers
Europe’s battery supply chain increasingly encompasses a wider range of specialised products beyond cathode materials, lithium refining, nickel, cobalt and graphite.
The industry also requires binders, conductive additives, electrolytes, separators, coatings, foils, testing systems, manufacturing equipment and recycling infrastructure, making supplier localisation increasingly granular.
For Serbia and Southeast Europe, this creates opportunities in specialised industrial segments where manufacturing costs, logistics, engineering capabilities and proximity to EU production facilities provide competitive advantages. Potential areas include advanced material dispersions, battery testing services, electrical components, recycling pre-processing, grid-storage integration, technical certification and supplier engineering.
Automotive qualification strengthens long-term supplier relationships
Supplying battery manufacturers such as PowerCo requires compliance with stringent quality, documentation, environmental management and product safety requirements alongside integration into automotive supplier qualification systems. Once approved within an automotive battery platform, suppliers become embedded within long-term industrial production programmes, provided manufacturing quality and process consistency are maintained.
The Serbian production facility therefore represents more than a single commercial agreement. It demonstrates the capability to manufacture advanced battery materials within Southeast Europe using industrial-scale processes linked directly to global automotive customers.
For PowerCo, the partnership supports the development of battery manufacturing capacity close to European vehicle production. For OCSiAl, it expands commercial deployment of single-wall carbon nanotubes within next-generation battery technologies. For Serbia, the agreement establishes participation in a strategic European battery manufacturing platform through advanced materials production rather than finished cell assembly.
As European battery manufacturing expands, specialised materials suppliers are becoming increasingly important to cell performance, production efficiency and supply-chain resilience, placing advanced industrial inputs alongside gigafactory investments within the continent’s battery manufacturing strategy.
