Renault may get battery cells made in Spain from China’s AESC

AESC could also supply Renault in Spain with cells for electric cars. According to local media, negotiations with the Renault Group are underway to become a supplier for its vehicle plants in Valladolid and Palencia.

The Spanish portal La Tribuna de Automoción reports that talks are said to be at an advanced stage. AESC (formerly Envision AESC) is planning a cell factory in Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres) set to go into operation in 2025 with a capacity of up to 50 GWh. The Chinese battery cell firm has reportedly already signed a contract to supply battery cells to the Spanish Mercedes-Benz Vans plant in Vitoria, which, as is known, will become one of the global production sites for electric vans based on the new VAN.EA platform from 2026. With the Renault Group, AESC now has another major customer in prospect.

The report thus suggests that Renault also wants to build purely electric cars at its Spanish plants in Valladolid and Palencia in the future – which has yet to be confirmed but is evident given the general electric plans. However, Renault denied this when La Tribuna de Automoción asked for comment.

The Renault Captur (also as a PHEV) is currently being built in Valladolid, where the Twizy was assembled until 2019. The Palencia plant produces the Kadjar SUV and the fourth-gen Mégane – the combustion model will continue to be offered. However, the fifth generation of the Mégane built in France with a purely electric drive is already on the market.

What’s more, the two companies are already working together. In France, AESC is building a battery cell factory at Renault’s French site in Douai, as reported. Following a redesign (the plant is being built on a car park next to the Renault plant instead of a wooded area), this will be smaller than initially announced but will be scaled up to an annual production of at least 30 GWh by 2029.

And Renault needs more cells. The new electric division Ampere is planning seven electric models by 2031, of which around one million vehicles will be produced each year. Renault and Ampere have reportedly secured battery cells for 600,000 electric cars for the French plants. This means they require cells for another 400,000 electric vehicles.

According to the report in La Tribuna de Automoción, AESC is conducting further negotiations with “several brands”, in addition to the talks with Renault, to supply battery cells to other European plants as well.

latribunadeautomocion.es (in Spanish)