Stellantis to develop rechargeable batteries with French research institute CEA
Affordable electric cars are key to meeting fleet regulations. Stellantis wants to make batteries cheaper with government research.
Stellanti's Gigafactory in Billy-Berclau (Douvrin, France) for the production of rechargeable batteries with partner ACC
(Image: Stellantis)
Stellantis has agreed a further collaboration with the French state research institute CEA in the field of battery development, the two partners have announced. Over the next five years, the development of "next-generation" battery cells for electric vehicles is to be tackled jointly. Batteries with higher performance, a longer service life and lower CO₂ emissions during production should make sustainable battery electric vehicles more affordable in the future.
The CEA (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives) is a scientific research institution of the French state for defense, nuclear energy and renewable energies, industry, medicine and life sciences as well as climate and the environment. It is known for its work on the international nuclear fusion reactor ITER in Cadarache, France.
Concrete results probably years away
Stellantis is also building on more than 25 years of experience at the CEA in the field of lithium-ion batteries. The aim is to improve the design and manufacture of cell technologies. In its press release, Stellantis could not resist using the buzzword "disruptive" as an attribute for the cell chemistries to be developed. The hoped-for successes are intended to accelerate the production of the next generation of electric cars and their batteries in factories that the press release hypes up as "gigafactories", which the car manufacturer operates as joint ventures with industrial partners. Stellantis is currently building one of these with its partner Samsung in Kokomo, Indiana (USA). The plant, which has been under construction since 2022, is scheduled to go into operation in the first quarter of 2025. In Billy-Berclau (Douvrin, France), Stellantis operates a gigafactory for the production of rechargeable batteries with its partner ACC.
The announcement is not yet more specific, but that would be surprising: Stellantis has only just launched its latest electric car platform "STLA Large", whose newly developed batteries can hold up to 118 kWh with a maximum charging capacity of 270 kW. The core of the announcement is therefore the collaboration with the CEA; concrete product improvements will probably not be announced for years. Renault has recently made more concrete announcements; the traditional French brand is relying on batteries made from LFP cells using the cell-to-pack process and aims to reduce costs by a fifth by 2026.
Great leverage
After all, the scale is considerable, as the Group is one of the largest car manufacturers with 14 brands and an annual output of almost six million vehicles. Stellantis owns the European brands Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot and Vauxhall as well as the traditional American brands Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram.
Stellantis has already defined the goal of a strong acceleration of electromobility in its "Dare Forward 2030" strategic plan. The Group aims to achieve net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2038 and offset the remaining emissions.
Another cooperation with a prominent state research institute in the field of research and development of electric car drives is the one with the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), which resulted in an energy storage battery with integrated inverter and charging function last year. The French battery company Saft was on board as a commercial development partner.
(fpi)
