Sustainability: Focus on renewable energy and recyclable materials

› Škoda Auto focuses on environmentally friendly and recyclable materials
› 100 per cent CO₂-neutral production in the brand’s Czech plants by 2030
› Second life for high-voltage batteries in stationary energy storage systems

Mladá Boleslav, 25 April 2023 – In addition to accelerating its transition to e-mobility, Škoda Auto is focused on enhancing sustainability in vehicle production and in its supply chains. This includes a commitment to using renewable energy at its sites, a focus on recyclable materials and the consistent recycling of high-voltage batteries from electric vehicles. The Vision 7S concept, on which the “Space” BEV is based, has set the blueprint for material use in future vehicle generations.

Recycled raw materials in the Enyaq iV and the Vision 7S
Škoda Auto places great emphasis on the sustainability of its products and will continue to increase the use of natural and recycled materials in its vehicles. Even today, production of the underbody panels for a car like the Škoda Enyaq iV involves 13 kilograms of recycled plastics. They come from old battery housings and bumpers. The Vision 7S concept gives a very concrete preview of how recycled materials can also be used in the interior of future vehicles.

Škoda’s focus on sustainability extends beyond the brand’s own production sites. The company promotes this idea along the entire value chain. This includes selecting sustainable raw materials as well as leveraging sustainable production methods in supplier plants. The company applies the principles of the circular economy wherever possible. By the end of this decade, Škoda Auto will be operating its three Czech plants with net-zero carbon emissions and has therefore committed to using only electricity from renewable sources. The Vrchlabí plant (for DSG gearboxes) has been CO₂-neutral since 2020; the Mladá Boleslav and Kvasiny plants will follow in due course. The share of renewable energies at the Czech sites was around 35% in 2022.

In partnership with the energy service provider ČEZ, the company will be commissioning one of the Czech Republic’s largest rooftop photovoltaic systems at its main Škoda plant in Mladá Boleslav. Almost 6,000 latest-generation solar modules will deliver a nominal output of 2,300 kW, generating more than 2,2 GWh of electricity per year. At the plant in Pune, India, Škoda recently commissioned one of the country’s largest solar-power rooftop systems in the automotive industry. The solar-power rooftop installation will generate a total of 26.6 GWh of energy per year, covering up to 30% of the plant’s total energy consumption. It will help offset CO₂ emissions resulting from car production at the site by 28 per cent per year.

Škoda Auto has been manufacturing battery systems for vehicles based on the Volkswagen Group’s Modular Electrification Platform (MEB) in Mladá Boleslav since May 2022. In total, the car manufacturer has already produced more than 500,000 battery systems (for BEV and PHEV models) at its main plant. They are key components for the successful transition to e-mobility. Škoda Auto will be commissioning another MEB assembly line before the end of this year. This will increase the total capacity of MEB battery systems from 1,000 to as much as 1,500 units per day. They are installed in Enyaq iV models and are also used in Volkswagen, Audi and SEAT vehicles. In addition, 800 batteries daily are produced at the main plant in Mladá Boleslav for PHEV models.