Mercedes-Benz partners with Stellantis to make battery cells for electric cars

Mercedes-Benz announced today that it will join Stellantis and Total Energies as equal partners in Automotive Cells Company (ACC) to make battery cells for electric cars.

Earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz announced plans to go all-electric by 2030.

In order to achieve that, they are going to have to secure a lot of batteries, and at the time, they announced this initiative:

“Mercedes-Benz to install battery cell capacity of more than 200 Gigawatt hours with partners, plans for eight Gigafactories.”

In a move toward that goal, they announced that they are taking a stake in Automotive Cells Company (ACC):

“On its path toward an all-electric future, Mercedes-Benz is taking an equity stake in European battery cell manufacturer Automotive Cells Company (ACC) to scale up development and production of next-generation high-performance battery cells and modules. As announced in July 2021, Mercedes-Benz will be ready to go fully electric by the end of the decade – wherever market conditions allow. To reach its target, the company needs a total battery production capacity of more than 200 Gigawatt hours by the end of the decade and plans to build eight cell factories worldwide together with partners, four of them in Europe. Joining ACC is the next step on the luxury car maker’s strategic course from “Electric first” to “Electric only”.”

ACC was launched last year by Stellantis and Total Energies to produce battery cells for electric transportation in Europe.

The newly formed company plans to invest “more than seven billion euros” in order to achieve the annual production capacity of 120 GWh of battery cells in Europe by the end of the decade.

They are currently based in France, but it’s not clear where the first volume production factory is going to be located.

Ola Källenius, CEO of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, commented on the announcement:

“Mercedes-Benz pursues a very ambitious transformation plan and this investment marks a strategic milestone on our path to CO₂ neutrality. Together with ACC, we will develop and efficiently produce battery cells and modules in Europe – tailor-made to the specific Mercedes-Benz requirements. This new partnership allows us to secure supply, to take advantage of economies of scale, and to provide our customers with superior battery technology. On top of that we can help to ensure that Europe remains at the heart of the auto industry – even in an electric era: With Mercedes-Benz as a new partner, ACC aims to more than double capacity at its European sites to support Europe’s industrial competitiveness in the design and manufacturing of battery cells.”

Mercedes-Benz plans to start off its investment with a “mid-three-digit-million euros” investment next year.

The German automaker has had its battery pack manufacturing operations, but it has had to rely on outside suppliers for battery cells.

While this marks an entry into its own battery cell production, the automaker is likely to have to rely on third-party suppliers for the foreseeable future.