Automotive Cells Company (ACC) has secured €4.4bn ($4.7bn) to finance battery cell production at three new gigafactories in one of the largest debt raisings in the history of the battery industry.
ACC – a JV between European automaking giants Mercedes and Stellantis – started building cells at its Billy-Berclau plant in France in December.
The JV will now construct a second block on the French site, a further block at its plant in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and two blocks in Italy.
The French and German sites currently each have a 40GWh annual capacity, with the factory in Termoli on Italy's east coast slated to have the same upon completion, bringing ACC's projected total capacity to 120GWh by 2030. The ACC partners are targeting the production of 2mn cells per year by that date.
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"We are resolutely looking to the future, with a view to achieving our objective of growing our production capacities,” says Yann Vincent, Chief Executive Officer of ACC.
The French site has already begun making LFP cells for Stellantis EVs. The auto conglomerate recently announced its new STLA Large battery platform, which has drawn criticism for allowing the OEM to continue to build ICE vehicles on the chassis.
Following the funding round Stellantis will own 45pc of ACC’s shares, Mercedes 30pc and French battery firm Saft 25pc. Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz say they plan to progressively increase their equity stakes in the JV.
The funding round is the second largest ever in the European battery sector, after Northvolt's raising of $5bn last month to expand its gigafactory in Sweden.
Ciaran has written about finance, politics and culture. He is passionate about e-mobility and what it means for our way of life.
Ciaran has a Masters in Ancient Philosophy from Oxford University.
