Germany makes electric cars, but not the batteries that power them. To change this, the government and industry have stepped up their research and development activities in recent years. These efforts are now bearing fruit: A joint endeavor with the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) has succeeded in manufacturing automotive-grade lithium-ion cells industrially in a pilot plant. The facility has made standard cells in PHEV 1 format fully automatically, at a high production rate. Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the State of Baden-Württemberg, the 3,000+ square meter pilot production plant at ZSW is equipped with specially developed manufacturing systems and has been in operation for over a year. The pilot line operation commenced in early 2015.