Automotive battery maker ACC halts plant development in Germany, Italy – Uplaza

The European automobile battery enterprise Automotive Cells (ACC) mentioned Tuesday that it was halting development of two factories in Germany and Italy because it weighs shifting to a less-expensive battery expertise.

The brand new ACC websites are amongst dozens of battery initiatives rising in Europe because it seeks to scale back reliance on Chinese language producers that dominate the market.

EV market demand has shifted towards so-called LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, that are much less highly effective but additionally cheaper and longer lasting than NMC batteries, and more and more discovered on automobiles made by business leaders Tesla and China’s BYD.

“The European automotive industry is facing a slower growth in demand for electric vehicles and simultaneously, increasing competitive pressure,” main the corporate to evaluate its “development roadmap”, ACC mentioned in an announcement.

Consequently, it has stopped work on the factories in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and Termoli, Italy, to judge the viability of growing LFP applied sciences on the websites.

“ACC is adapting its battery supply strategy to add new low-cost cell chemistries to the portfolio, in response to shifts in market demand toward less expensive vehicles,” its secretary basic Matthieu Hubert informed AFP.

He mentioned there could be a “new phase of research over the coming months so that we’ll be able to produce these more affordable products”.

ACC is a partnership between French vitality big TotalEnergies, Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and US-European automaker Stellantis, which produces a spread of manufacturers together with Peugeot, Fiat and Chrysler.

It started producing batteries at its first “gigafactory” in northern France final 12 months, for the Peugeot 3008 midsize household automobile, and a second manufacturing line is about to start out working within the coming months.

In February, the corporate mentioned it had secured 4.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion) in financing to construct out its capability, for a complete of 13 manufacturing traces.

© 2024 AFP