Stellantis and Mercedes are working together: what project they are going to develop

ACC, a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies, has reached an agreement with the Italian government to build a battery plant.

Automotive Cells Company, a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies, has confirmed that it will build a battery plant in Termoli, southern Italy.

The Termoli plant will be transformed from an existing engine factory.

The ACC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Italian government on Monday for the construction of the factory, the third joint venture.

Rome pledged 369 million euros in public funds for Termoli last month, and Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said the investment in the new site could be similar in size to those planned for French and German factories. where the investment is about 2 billion euros each.

ACC said the three partners are committed to increasing total industrial volume to at least 120 gigawatt hours by 2030 and stepping up the development and production of next-generation high-performance cells and modules.

The updated capacity plan will mobilize an investment of over 7 billion euros, the ACC statement said.

The focus is on Europe

The production capacity of the French and German ACC plants will each be increased to 40 GWh compared to the 24 GWh originally planned. These plants are expected to be operational in 2023 and 2025, respectively.

The aim of the partnership is to develop battery cells and modules and “help ensure that Europe remains at the heart of the car industry – even in the electricity age,” said Daimler CEO Ola Kaellenius.

ACC will provide Mercedes-Benz with mid-decade battery technology, Daimler said.

“Our focus is on Europe,” Kallenius told a news conference. “This is where ACC wants to grow, expand and develop technologies with us.”

The luxury carmaker, whose former director Dieter Zetsche thought the production of internal battery cells was too expensive, took a strategic turn under Kallenius to tighten control over its battery supply chain.