Site visit: France’s first EV battery gigafactory
Ross Hastie
Posted on: 8 September 2023
Enlit on the Road visited France’s first EV battery gigafactory, which is set to be a gamechanger for European electric vehicle manufacturers.
France’s first EV battery gigafactory is set to be a gamechanger for European electric vehicle manufacturers, as they race to meet the enormous demands of the impending e-mobility transition.
Enlit on the Road visited the new ACC gigafactory near Lille - which is classified as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) - to understand the magnitude of the project.
With a production capacity of 40GWh by 2030, the gigafactory aims to compete with Asian battery makers to supply European automobile manufacturers with a European product. It’s the first of three production facilities - factories in Germany and Italy are next - that will each produce as many as 10 million cells per year.
Located in the heart of the Hauts-de-France region, in what is now known as the ‘Battery Valley,’ ACC’s project is presented as a “symbol of the European transition towards a new mobility, cleaner, more respectful of the planet and accessible to all.”
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An Important Project of Common European Interest
Important Projects of Common European Interest enable large-scale collaboration between public and private sectors - bringing together smart-industry leaders in knowledge, expertise, financial resources and economics throughout the European Union, to conquer challenges and meet needs which are impossible by any other means.
Funding thus comes from the European Union, via the IPCEI, and ACC’s shareholders, TotalEnergies-Saft, Stellantis, and Mercedes AG.
Eventually, about 2000 employees will produce the low-carbon battery cells and modules, that will equip nearly 800,000 electric vehicles.
More than 900 employees from all over the world are in a race against time to erect the massive building in less than 10 months and install the machines. Overall, it’s a 17-month project that will conclude with the start of production at the end of 2023.
While much of the current workforce and machinery have been sourced from Asia, the project is a significant building block in establishing the industry and the expertise required in Europe.
The gigafactory features 61,000m2 of workshops and 20,000m2 of dry room, used in the specialized manufacturing process, and 16 chemical mixes of 1600 litres each. There are also five coating lines of 90 meters, each containing 10 furnaces, and capable of producing up to 80 meters of anode or cathode every minute.
With the help of local political, economic, and employment stakeholders the factory in Billy-Berclau Douvrin represents a major step in the Hauts-de-France region’s reindustrialisation and will play a significant role in Europe’s transition to low-carbon mobility.
