German auto giants Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen accelerate battery production plans
Following news this week that Ford has partnered with Redwood Materials to secure future battery component supply chains, we have an announcement from Daimler that Mercedes-Benz has secured a 33 percent stake in Automotive Cells Company (ACC), a battery cell manufacturer with a presence in France. The stake is estimated to be worth around $1.2 billion USD ($1.65 billion AUD).
Stellantis and French petroleum company TotalEnergies own 33 percent each. Automotive News Europe reports Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius has said “the purpose of the partnership is to develop cells and battery modules and “help ensure that Europe remains at the heart of the auto industry — even in an electric era.”
Mercedes-Benz will provide technology and production expertise to the ACC partnership, and aims to manufacture at least 120 Gigawatt hours of cell capacity by the end of the decade with its partners. The company is moving towards a modular, standardised battery “kit” that allows battery cells and modules from different manufacturers to easily fit with its range of components and interfaces.
High energy density, performance and charging power are key benchmarks for the project according to Daimler. ACC will primarily use renewable energy for its production facilities, and the batteries themselves will be over 95 percent recyclable.
ACC’s first new factory will be located in Northern France, and plans to be operational by 2023.
A rendering of JAC Volkswagen’s Hefei battery production facility. Image: Volkswagen
Volkswagen powers ahead in China
Meanwhile, Chinese joint venture Jianghuai Automobile Group/Volkswagen (JAC Volkswagen) will also have a new battery factory operational by 2023, located in Hefei city. Automotive News Europe states that the factory's initial capacity will be 150,000 to 180,000 battery systems a year.
This is the fourth battery factory in the works for the Wolfsburg automaker, with plants in Brunswick and Salzgitter Germany coming online in the next couple of years. A battery factory in Chattanooga, TN and at Volkswagen technology partner Northvolt’s Skellefteå plant should also be operational by 2023. Volkswagen plans to produce unified, modular cells like Mercedes-Benz for its scalable MEB platform architecture, and has flagged an annual capacity of up to 180,000 battery systems from its Hefei plant.
“With a significant increase of battery-electric vehicles in the future, we need to focus on keeping key components like battery systems in our own value chain, allowing us to leverage Group-wide synergies and innovations” says Stephan Wöllenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China. He goes on to say that “Volkswagen Anhui and VW Anhui Components Company, alongside our two strong Joint Ventures, are crucial to our electrification strategy and to achieving our goal of the Volkswagen Group China fleet reaching over 40% NEVs by 2030”.
Sources: Daimler, Automotive News Europe
