An association of battery and vehicle makers have welcomed Mercedes-Benz as an equal partner in its bid to build at least 120GWh of European lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity by 2030.
Stellantis and TotalEnergies/Saft have finalised the agreement to allow Mercedes-Benz to become a partner of Automotive Cells Company (ACC).
By 2030, ACC ‘s French (Billy-Berclau/Douvrin) and German (Kaiserslautern) plants will each be able to produce at least 40GWh per year against the 24GWh initially planned.
The additional planned capacity opens an investment of more than €7 billion.
ACC was established by Stellantis and TotalEnergies/Saft in 2020, and is supported by the French, German, and European authorities, to create an innovative European battery player for electric vehicles.
ACC’s purpose is to develop and produce battery cells and modules for electric vehicles.
Italian battery plant
In addition, ACC plans to add a third production site in Termoli, Italy.
A Memorandum of Understanding between ACC and the Italian authorities was signed on 21 March to formalise ACC’s shareholders and the Italian authorities to support investment.
The new Shareholder Agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
ACC will increase the nominal production capacity per block of the two gigafactories planned in French and Germany to 13.4 GWh per block by optimising the use of the available surface initially planned for the plant.
The facility in Termoli, in the region of Molise, will be on the site of the FCA production plant that was established in 1972 and specialised in the production of motors and transmissions.
The new plant will have a 1.2 million square metre footprint and will produce 40GWh.
Discussions between ACC and the Italian authorities will continue in the coming months but the factory should employ about 2,000 workers by 2030. This figure depends on ACC’s future competitiveness and the level of the European automotive market.
