Franco-German battery cell pilot production to launch 2019

At a joint press conference, Germany’s Economics Minister Peter Altmaier and his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire gave details of the first Franco-German battery cell consortium. Above all, the timeline is becoming more concrete.

It is well known that the car manufacturer PSA with its German subsidiary Opel and the French battery manufacturer Saft will participate in the consortium. According to Le Maire, the foundation stone for a first pilot plant in the French Nouvelle-Aquitain region is to be laid before the end of this year and two factories for the series production of battery cells will be built in the first half of the coming decade – the first of these from 2022 in France and the second from 2024 in Germany. There is still no official information on the exact locations of the cell factories.

The Franco-German initiative announced in December 2018 to establish battery cell production is at the top of the “Altmaier-Billion” funding list. The project could also be funded by France. According to information from electrive, the French government has long since taken position, thus putting the German government under pressure. We recently published an overview of who the key players are and where a corresponding plant could be built.

automobilwoche.de (German)