Stellantis-backed ACC to expand French gigafactory

Paris — Automotive Cells Company (ACC) is set to sign a new loan to finance the second production block of its gigafactory in northern France, a company spokesperson said, as the battery maker ramps up output despite Europe’s sluggish electric vehicle market.

The loan, guaranteed by ACC's two main shareholders, carmakers Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz Group, is worth about €1bn, two sources familiar with the matter said, confirming a report by newspaper Les Echos.

Stellantis and Mercedes didn’t respond to requests for comment, and smaller shareholder TotalEnergies declined to comment.

The factory already operates one production block, with a maximum capacity of 15GWh. The second block of 13GWh is under construction.

The ramp-up of ACC’s France factory comes despite slow growth of the EV market, which led European peer Northvolt to file for bankruptcy last month and raised questions about other battery plants being built in Europe.

ACC said on Tuesday it planned to continue the expansion up of its plant in France making NMC batteries after an announcement by Stellantis that it will build a factory in Spain with China’s CATL to make batteries using competing LFP technology.

NMC, which has a higher density but is more expensive, is suitable for larger, more high-end electric vehicles. LFP, less dense but cheaper, is used in smaller cars. Both are variants of lithium-ion.

ACC suspended plans for two other gigafactory projects in Germany and Italy to reconsider the battery technology it will use and will outline plans for the plants in the first half of 2025.

The construction of a third production block in France, which would bring the total capacity of the site to 40GWh, hasn’t been decided yet, the spokesperson said.

Reuters