August 30, 2024: Clarios has announced plans to invest around €200 million ($223 million) in its European plants up to 2026 to expand production capacity for AGM vehicle batteries.

As of 2026, around 50% more batteries will be produced each year, the company said on August 8.

The biggest expansion of AGM capacity will be at its Hanover plant in Germany, which is also home to the European headquarters of Clarios.

The bulk of the investment will finance new assets to boost Hanover’s operations by shifting the entire site, including case production, to advanced battery technologies.

To create the necessary space, a significant part of the production of conventional batteries and advanced EFB batteries for OEMs has been relocated from Hanover to Česká Lípa in the Czech Republic.

Additionally, plastic housing for AGM batteries and small parts such as plugs and handles will also be increasingly produced in Česká Lípa.

Clarios said its investment includes a “two-digit” million amount to expand the Czech site, which will also receive new production machines.

In Zwickau, Germany, where Clarios already operates the largest production plant for AGM batteries worldwide, the group said annual capacity had already increased significantly following earlier investment of “several million” euros.

Since the start of AGM production in 2002, more than 80 million batteries have been supplied from Zwickau.

Meanwhile, recycling operations in Krautscheid, Germany, will support the overall expansion with increased recycling of lead alloys for the grids used in AGM batteries.

Clarios said conventional and EFB batteries for OEMS previously made in Hanover will in future be produced at its Spanish sites in Burgos and in the battery case plant in Ibi. Equipment will be moved from Hanover to support the change.

In a related move, the firm’s plant in Guardamar, Spain, will increase production of its Power Frame grids for EFB batteries by 50% and will be equipped with an additional production line to do so.

The production cluster on the Iberian Peninsula will also recycle lead from old batteries locally. Clarios said its recycling plant in Medina del Campo has been a crucial part of the internal supply chain since 2022.