Car manufacturer Stellantis and Chinese electric battery giant CATL will build a battery factory in Spain. A project worth more than 4 billion euros which signals the failure of European efforts to develop this technology alone.
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The plant in Zaragoza, in northeastern Spain, will produce batteries as part of a 50/50 joint venture.
Stellantisthe fourth largest automobile manufacturer, owner in particular of Peugeot, Jeep and Fiat, has signed a collaboration with the Chinese group CATL, the largest battery manufacturer in the world. A long-term project for the supply of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries.
Considered less expensive than nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries, lithium-iron-phosphate models are more robust, but less powerful.
Europe’s dependence on Chinese batteries
This partnership with the Chinese group is good news for the automobile industry and employment in Spain, said the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez.
But this project also signals Europe’s dependence on Chinese batteries. Considered one of the hopes for European-made batteries, the Swedish group Northvolt is on the verge of bankruptcy. Therefore, the transition of the European automobile market to electric will undoubtedly be slower than expected.
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