Franco-German Consortium to build EV batteries in France by 2022

During a press conference, Germany’s Economics Minister Peter Altmaier and French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire revealed further details about the Franco-German battery consortium.

French carmaker Groupe PSA, its German subsidiary Opel and French battery manufacturer Saft are a part of this consortium.

The ministers said that they expected the foundation stone for the first battery plant to be laid before the end of the year. This facility will be located in the Nouvelle-Aquitain region of France. The battery making operations at this facility is set to begin in 2022. The factory will create around 2,000 employment opportunities.

A second battery facility is also being planned by the consortium. This facility will come up in Germany although the location has not yet been finalised. Operations at this venture will begin by 2024.

EU Commission Vice-President, Maros Sefcovic, had launched the battery alliance in 2017 in order to reduce the reliance of European auto makers on Asian suppliers to source batteries.