Stellantis announced earlier this year that it would start producing EV batteries in Europe. Now Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes, is joining that Automotive Cells Company.
Stellantis and Total plan to start producing batteries for electric cars on European soil from 2023. The joint venture Automotive Cells Company, ACC for short, will not only build batteries for the cars of the Stellantis brands, but also batteries for other car manufacturers.
It is now clear that Mercedes is certainly one of the customers. Mercedes’ parent company Daimler is joining the joint venture. The shares of ACC are neatly divided among the three stakeholders, so Daimler gets 33 percent.
“Mercedes-Benz is envisioning a serious transformation and this investment is a milestone on our path to a carbon-neutral future,” said Daimler CEO Ola Källenius. According to the Germans, the battery cells made at ACC are tailor-made for the Mercedes models. “This new partnership means we are in control of the delivery, while still being able to take advantage of economies of scale. In addition, this step contributes to ensuring that Europe remains at the center of the global automotive industry in the EV era.”
The aim of ACC is to become the European market leader when it comes to battery production for cars. The R&D center in Bordeaux is already operational, while a pilot site in Nersac, France, plans to start a trial run from the end of this year.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl