AUTONEWS

Stellantis and Mercedes also surf the gigafactory wave

There are no electric vehicles without batteries and continuing to purchase accumulators from Chinese suppliers, most of which are owned by the communist state, which also controls vehicle manufacturers, is an option as risky as it is strategically ruinous. Hence, betting on ceasing to depend on one of their main rivals, the Stellantis and Mercedes groups went to the market to raise around 4.4 billion euros to invest in four European gigafactories to produce the batteries they need to equip their vehicles. .

The two consortiums, which already own in equal shares (33.3%) the battery manufacturer ACC (from Automotive Cells Company), together with Total Energies, intended to raise 7 billion euros from banking institutions such as BNP Paribas , ING, Deutsche Bank and Intesa Sanpaolo, among others. The French and German Governments contributed 1.3 billion euros, with the Italian Government not contributing to this project so far.

ACC, which opened its first battery gigafactory in Billy-Berclau, in northern France, in 2023, will build four new battery cell production lines. One of them will be in Kaiserslautern, Germany, two in Termoli, Italy, and another in France, in a location not yet announced. This will involve the creation of an additional 6,000 jobs, according to Reuters.

ACC will thus become the largest European manufacturer of battery cells, rivaling the Swedish company Northvolt, which at the beginning of 2024 raised another 5 billion dollars (around 4.6 billion euros) in funds to continue the its manufacturing growth and technological development. This large sum of money will join the funds previously gathered by the Nordic company, which is considered the most heavily financed startup, now totaling 13 billion dollars, approximately 12 billion euros.

​Mundoquatrorodas