The country's first gigafactory for the production of batteries for electric cars has been completed in the north of France. The opening is scheduled for Tuesday, May 30th. Le Figaro writes about it.
Located in Lance, the new production facility is owned by the Automotive Cells Company (ACC), a joint venture between the oil and gas concern TotalEnergies, the French-Italian-American auto giant Stellantis and the German automaker Mercedes-Benz. They own the company in equal shares.
By the end of 2024, ACC plans to employ 600 people at the factory and achieve an annual capacity of 13 GWh. By 2030, the target is 2,000 workers and 40 GWh, equivalent to 800,000 batteries produced per year.
The French authorities, as part of the reindustrialization course, intend to free themselves from the need to purchase battery packs for electric vehicles from China until 2027. The aim is also to make the country one of the largest exporters of such products in Europe. An obstacle for France is that China currently largely controls the production chain of metals needed to create lithium-ion batteries - nickel, cobalt, manganese.
The new site in Lens is the first of four planned French gigafactories that will employ 20,000 people by 2030.
Recall that in France, as in other countries of the European Union, from 2035 a ban on the sale of new cars with gasoline engines will come into force. In this regard, most foreign automakers are forced to reformat their activities for the production of electric vehicles.
A huge battery factory was built for French electric vehicles
