Multinational automaker Stellantis, German legacy automaker Mercedes-Benz and French energy giant TotalEnergies announced Tuesday the launch of the first-ever battery gigafactory in France.
The press release noted that the joint venture between the three major auto industry players, Automotive Cells Company’s (ACC) factory, is the first of the three planned electric vehicle battery plants in Europe located in Billy-Berclau Douvrin.
About project
The battery gigafactory in Billy-Berclau will initially have a production capacity of 13 gigawatt-hours (GWh). It will increase to 40GWh by 2030, Stellantis indicated.
In addition, the partners expect the plant to produce high-performance li-ion batteries without a high CO2 footprint.
Before the end of 2023, the first of the three European production units at the location will be up and running.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire attended the inauguration ceremony, likening the new battery plant to the Airbus development, which evolved into a powerhouse in the aircraft industry.
“The European Union must flex its muscles. China will give no quarter.”
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire
How can the project benefit Stellantis?
Stellantis asserted that the battery gigafactory will aid the company in hitting its production target of 250 GWh in Europe by 2030. It will also support the company’s goal of establishing a “comprehensive suite of battery technologies” to aid all Stellantis customers’ demands.
In essence, Stellantis aims to guarantee about 400 GWh of battery production capacity by 2030, aided by its five gigafactories in North America and Europe, along with its other supply contracts.
“At the outset of this partnership in 2020, we agreed to an ambitious global timeline to develop electric vehicle batteries that would power our plan to electrify mobility.
As we execute our Dare Forward 2030 strategy and now move to hit our ambitious target of achieving carbon net zero by 2038, Stellantis is actively contributing to the European electrification transition with state-of-the-art EV solutions and supporting France’s crucial role in a sustainable future. I applaud every person involved in ACC, for together we are building a strong coalition to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness.”
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares
See Also:
- DEO and Stellantis to launch the Battery Workforce Challenge in fall 2023
- Stellantis to produce electric vehicles at its Cassino factory in Italy
- Stellantis selects the second factory in Italy to manufacture EVs under the STLA Big Platform
- Stellantis invests in EV production, causing the Jeep plant to close
- Stellantis teases Ram EV van, replicating European EV success in the US
Stellantis’ enormous demand for EV batteries is unsurprising, considering that it already offers 24 battery-powered vehicles in the market. It even has plans to double that count to 47 models by the end of 2024, according to the press release. By 2030, the automaker aims to have over 75 BEV offerings worldwide and hit five million-unit sales.
In addition, Stellantis aims to hit 100% of the passenger EV sales mix in Europe and 50% of the passenger car and light-duty EV sales mix in the US by 2030 under the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan. By 2038, Stellantis targets to be a carbon-net-zero company across all business operations, with a single-digit percentage compensation for any residual emissions.
