Stellantis to source over 260 GWH in EV battery capacity by 2030

Automaker group Stellantis announced at its EV Day 2021 on July 8 its global strategy to source over 260 GWh of electric vehicle battery capacity by 2030, which will be supported by five gigafactories in Europe and North America.

The company, which owns a number of auto brands and was formed in January by the merger of Italian-American group Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA, said at the EV Day that, as part of its comprehensive electrification strategy, it planned to invest Eur30 billion ($35.6 billion) through 2025 in electrification and software development.

The EV battery sourcing strategy is of Stellantis' electrification roadmap, which it said encompassed the entire value chain.

It said it aimed to secure over 130 GWh of battery capacity by 2025, with this reaching over 260 GWh by 2030.

The battery supply will come from the five gigafactories, as well as from additional supply contracts and partnerships to support total demand.

Stellantis currently has two gigafactory projects, one in France and one in Germany, under its joint venture with Total, called Automotive Cells Company (ACC).

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares announced that it would also be building a gigaplant in Italy at its engine facility, and one in the US.

"We have reached an agreement with the Italian government so that the new gigafactory of Stellantis can be born in Italy, in Termol," Tavares said.

The company's electrification strategy also includes targeting over 70% of sales in Europe and over 40% in the US to be low emission vehicle (LEV) by 2030, with 14 of its brands committed to offering best-in-class fully electrified solutions.

Dual battery chemistries

Stellantis said that its plans included dual battery chemistries, including a high energy-density option and a nickel cobalt-free alternative by 2024, with a solid-state battery technology introduction planned in 2026.

It said it also had signed memorandum of understandings with two unnamed lithium geothermal brine process partners in North America and Europe to ensure a sustainable supply of lithium, which it said it had identified as the most critical battery raw material with regard to availability.

As part of its strategy, Stellantis is also aiming to reduce battery costs using its technical expertise and manufacturing synergies, with it targeting to reduce EV battery pack costs by over 40% from 2020 to 2024 and by more than an additional 20% by 2030.

"All aspects of the battery pack play a role in reducing the costs – optimizing the overall pack, simplifying the format of the modules, increasing the size of the battery cells and upgrading the battery chemistry," it said.

EV costs equivalent to ICE vehicles by 2026

Reduced battery pack costs will assist in Stellantis reaching its goal of ensuring the total cost of ownership of EVs be equivalent to internal combustion engine vehicles by 2026.

The company added that it intended to maximize the full value of the battery life cycle through repair, remanufacturing, second-life use and recycling, as well as ensure a sustainable system that prioritizes customer needs and environmental concerns.

Stellantis said to manufacture EVs, its brands had four battery EV platforms, which were designed with a high level of flexibility and component sharing, delivering economies of scale as each platform can support production of up to two million units per year.

It said the combination of these platforms, three electric drive modules and standardized high energy-density battery packs would "deliver vehicles with best-in-class performance in efficiency, range and recharging."

Earlier in the week, Stellantis announced a GBP100 million ($138.1 million) investment in Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port manufacturing plant in Cheshire to transform and enable it to manufacture all-electric light commercial vans and passenger vehicles by the end of 2022.

A Stellantis spokesman told S&P Global Platt at the time that the batteries for the EVs would be sourced from existing suppliers, with its ACC plants in France and Germany to supply batteries from 2023.