In a statement, Volkswagen’s sports car unit Porsche AG said it is setting up a joint venture with Customcells to produce high-performance batteries which purportedly will significantly decrease battery charging times.

The statement mentions that the partnership with Customcells, a company which specializes in producing lithium-ion cells, is aimed at producing car batteries with higher energy density than prototypes used in Porsche’s current electric cars.

The move underscores a growing trend with European carmakers aiming to reduce their dependence on Asia for batteries as they roll out all-electric models to meet stringent emissions targets in the EU.

Along with slashing the amount of time it will take to charge these new batteries, improving energy density will also mean reducing the amount of raw material needed in batteries to achieve the same range; it will also reduce battery production costs, and hopefully make electric cars more affordable.

Porsche said it will invest a high double-digit million euro sum in the joint venture in which it will hold 80%.

The production facility aims to have a capacity of 100 kilowatt hours, which translates to making sufficient amounts of batteries for 1,000 cars a year.

Earlier this year in April, Porsche’s CEO Oliver Blume said, the company wanted “to speed up its e-mobility drive” with plans for a German factory in Tuebingen to manufacture battery cells.

Incidentally, Customcells is also based out of Tuebingen.