Mercedes-Benz plans £6bn European electric battery venture
Mercedes-Benz is teaming up with Stellantis and TotalEnergies to boost the production of electric batteries in Europe through a €7bn (£6bn) project.
Mercedes plans to take a 33 per cent stake in battery manufacturer Automative Cells Company and plans to provide both technology and production know how. It comes after Mercedes-Benz this year announced plans to go fully electric by the end of the decade – a commitment which requires industrial scale quantities of electric batteries.
“Mercedes-Benz pursues a very ambitious transformation plan and this investment marks a strategic milestone on our path to CO2 neutrality. Together with ACC, we will develop and efficiently produce battery cells and modules in Europe – tailor-made to the specific Mercedes-Benz requirements,” said Ola Källenius, CEO of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz.
ACC aims to more than double capacity at its European sites to support Europe’s industrial competitiveness in the design and manufacturing of battery cells. The project hopes to reach a capacity of at least 120 Gigawatt hours in Europe by the end of the decade with Mercedes-Benz due to invest a mid-three-digit-million euros amount next year.
Yann Vincent, CEO of ACC said that onboarding Mercedes-Benz as a shareholder is a “major milestone” for the company.
“Mercedes-Benz will bring a vote of confidence in our technology roadmap and product competitiveness that significantly strengthens ACC’s business potential and underpins our ambitious growth plans. This is our contribution to an electric and sustainable future,” he added.
Mercedes-Benz is pursuing widespread research and development activities in the field of battery technology with plans to build eight cell factories worldwide together with partners, four of them in Europe, by 2030.
Dailmer AG, a company of which Mercedes is a subsidiary, has seen its share price climb by 1.47 per cent today.
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