According to German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, the manufacture of electric vehicle battery cells in Europe is on pace to become “the most successful industrial policy initiative since Airbus.” The CDU lawmaker made the comment in response to Mercedes-decision Benz’s to join the Automotive Cells Company (ACC) battery consortium, which is led by Stellantis and TotalEnergies. According to Altmaier, “it is already obvious that several tens of thousands of new jobs in battery cell manufacture will be generated in Germany alone over the next few years.”
“The collaboration between Germany and France has the potential to establish a new European leader in the field of batteries. Germany has the potential to become a worldwide hub for battery manufacture if it joins forces with Tesla’s initiative and the 14 other projects we are financing as part of the European battery projects.
This will result in the most successful industrial policy initiative to date, surpassing even Airbus in terms of success.”
Since 2018, the ACC collaboration has received funding and promotion through a joint European initiative known as the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), which is funded by the European Union. ACC is a partnership led by Mercedes-Benz that aims to “scale up development and manufacturing of next-generation high-performance battery cells and modules.” Mercedes-Benz will become an equal shareholder in the group.
Aston Martin intends to be “ready to go totally electric by the end of the decade – wherever market circumstances allow” at that time. A total battery manufacturing capacity of more than 200 gigawatt hours will be required for this, and the firm aims to establish eight cell factories across the world in collaboration with partners, four of which will be located in Europe.