Groupe PSA And Total Create Major New European EV Battery Consortium

Groupe PSA/Opel and Total have signed an agreement for the creation of a European battery joint venture called ACC. The JV is set to become a world-class player in the development and manufacture of high-performance batteries for the automotive industry from 2023.

Total/Saft will contribute its expertise in R&D and industrialization, and Groupe PSA its knowledge of the automotive market and its experience in production. The R&D centre in Bordeaux and the pilot site in Nersac (France) have already started in order to develop the new high-performance lithium-ion technologies. At the end of this R&D phase, production is planned to be launched in two ‘gigafactories, in Douvrin (France) and Kaiserslautern (Germany).  

Carlos Tavares, Chairman of Groupe PSA: “The construction of the European battery consortium that we wished for is now a reality. I would like to pay special tribute to the commitment of the Total/Saft and Groupe PSA/Opel teams who have made this project come true. This new step is consistent with our central purpose: to offer citizens clean, safe and affordable mobility” and gives Groupe PSA a competitive advantage in the context of growing sales of electric vehicles. ACC takes Groupe PSA further along the road to carbon neutrality.”

Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman of Total comments: “The creation of ACC illustrates Total’s commitment to meet the challenge of climate change and to develop as a broad energy company, a major player in the energy transition, by continuing to provide affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy. Our ambition is to leverage the recognized expertise of our subsidiary SAFT in batteries and the industrial know-how of our partner PSA to meet the strong growth of electric vehicles in Europe. I would like to offer my encouragement to the teams who will be joining ACC to make this adventure a real European technological and industrial success.”

The consortium will offer an initial capacity of 8 GWh, reaching a cumulative capacity of 48 GWh on both sites by 2030. It will represent 1 million electric vehicles produced per year, i.e. more than 10% of the European market.