German govt says e-car batteries 'most successful industry policy project since Airbus'

The production of e-car battery cells in Europe is on track to become "the most successful industrial policy project since Airbus," German economy minister Peter Altmaier has declared. The CDU politician made the statement in reference to Mercedes-Benz joining Stellantis' and TotalEnergies' Automotive Cells Company (ACC) battery consortium. "It's already clear that several tens of thousands of jobs will be created in battery cell production in Germany alone over the next few years," Altmaier said. "The cooperation between Germany and France has the potential to create a new battery champion in Europe. Together with Tesla's project and the 14 others we are funding as part of the European battery projects, Germany can become a focal point of global battery production. This will create the most successful industrial policy project to date since Airbus."

The ACC consortium has been supported and promoted within the framework of a joint European project, Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), since 2018. Mercedes-Benz has announced it will become an equal shareholder in the ACC consortium "to scale up development and production of next-generation high-performance battery cells and modules." The luxury carmaker plans to be "ready to go fully electric by the end of the decade – wherever market conditions allow." This will require a total battery production capacity of more than 200 gigawatt hours and the company plans to build eight cell factories worldwide together with partners, four of them in Europe.