Porsche reportedly plans to shut down its battery unit, Cellforce, nearly. According to a media report from the German magazine Der Spiegel, all that will remain at the Cellforce site in Kirchentellinsfurt, Swabia, is “at best a small unit for research and development.” Porsche itself has declined to comment. Meanwhile, the sports car manufacturer seems to turn to another (American) start-up, Group14.

In the Spring of 2025, the executive board of the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer officially decided on a strategic realignment of its battery activities. It went on to announce that earlier plans to expand the production of high-performance batteries by its subsidiary Cellforce Group would “not be pursued independently.”

This wording left considerable room for interpretation back in April. Everything, from searching for a partner to the liquidation of the subsidiary, was conceivable.

Der Spiegel now claims to have learned what will happen to Cellforce and, citing its sources, writes that around 200 of Cellforce’s 286 employees will be laid off. The authors conclude that “the unit will be almost completely shut down.” A company spokesperson for Porsche would not comment on the matter.

Ambitious project

The Cellforce Group was initially founded as a joint venture between Porsche and Customcells to develop and manufacture customized high-performance cells for Porsche’s electric sports cars.

However, Porsche completely took over Cellforce in 2023 and raised its ambitions. Instead of expanding production up to one or two GWh, there was suddenly talk of up to 20 GWh, but this was reversed with the board decision in April 2025.

Der Spiegel reports that the subsidiary is now facing drastic cuts after the manufacturer had recently been looking for investors. A corresponding mass layoff was reportedly reported to the Reutlingen employment agency on Wednesday. Only an R&D unit is to remain at the Kirchentellinsfurt site.

Porsche’s ambitious project to establish its large-scale battery production facility appears to be falling apart. The reasons for the subsidiary’s impending failure seem to be multifaceted.

Costs rose due to a zigzag course in technical cell design (first pouch cells, then prismatic cells, then round cells were to be built) and expensive ‘Made in Europe’ machines.

At the same time, Porsche itself slid into crisis. Slow sales in China were significant here. “The continuing challenging market conditions and declining demand in the fully electric luxury segment are impacting development in the 2025 fiscal year,” Porsche stated in the spring. Added to this are the new US import tariffs, which severely affect Porsche, given its lack of a US manufacturing facility.

In this situation, Porsche’s patience with its loss-making Cellforce subsidiary has apparently come to an end. In the meantime, there were reportedly talks with Northvolt (about a year before its insolvency) and with the VW subsidiary PowerCo to rescue the company, but without success.

Strategy change

Meanwhile, Porsche has focused on another path: V4Smart, the Varta battery subsidiary acquired and renamed by the Stuttgart-based company, recently unveiled its second-generation battery cell. This is not a mass-produced product, but a highly specialized round cell.

It is set to be launched in two different versions and will contain the new anode material from Porsche partner Group14. It is considered the successor to the previous ‘booster cell’, with one variant from Porsche being described as a new flagship version for a “broader range of applications” and the second variant being considered a further improved booster cell.

For these niche products, Porsche sees not only the automotive industry as a potential target group, but also, for example, the aerospace industry and manufacturers of power tools.

It is now expanding its focus beyond the automotive sector and targeting industries “that require reliable, high-performance cylindrical cells manufactured to the highest quality standards.”

Group14

Three years ago, Porsche joined Group14, a battery material developer specialising in silicon anodes, and is now one of the US start-up’s most important cooperation partners. The sports car manufacturer, along with the parent company of battery manufacturer SK On and others, has now invested a total of $463 million in Group14.

A key component of the new deal is the complete acquisition of Group14’s joint venture with SK Materials in Sangju, South Korea. The battery materials factory there produces Group14’s flagship product, SCC55, and began shipping silicon anode material to customers in September 2024.

“This is a defining moment for Group14 and a clear signal that the future of high-performance energy storage, powered by our silicon battery material, is already here,” said Rick Luebbe, CEO and co-founder of Group14. “We’re strengthening regional battery supply chains and safeguarding our customers from global trade uncertainty.”

Group14 also has another essential partnership in Germany with the chemical company BASF. In the spring, the two companies jointly presented a market-ready silicon anode solution designed to replace graphite in lithium-ion batteries. The solution combines BASF’s Licity 2698 X F binder with Group14’s advanced SCC55 silicon anode material.