The Stellantis-CATL team is working in Figuelas to launch the gigafactory.
The Stellantis electric vehicle battery plant project in Figuelas can now move forward at a faster pace.or, once the important assistance from Electric and Connected Vehicle Perte (VEC) is guaranteed, another 133.7 million euros from these European funds, as announced last Tuesday in Zaragoza by Industry Minister Jordi Hereu. Stellantis employees and representatives of the Chinese company CATL have been working together for several months to promote the initiative.global leader in battery manufacturing, which plans to sign a “joint venture” agreement with the automaker to operate a new gigafactory.
The Stellantis-CATL working group contacted some engineering and specialty contractors who were able to inspect the site where they plan to locate a battery manufacturing plant. Tastings have already been carried out, and the company has announced a tender for earthworks. The directors of both companies held meetings with representatives of Aragonese companies that will be candidates for cooperation with the company that the Chinese company and Stellantis will create to manage the gigafactory. The company, as industry sources confirmed to the newspaper, can only be created with the approval of the Chinese government, as is always the case with investments by companies of the Asian giant outside its country.
Thus, although at the event on Tuesday it was already clear that it is now Stellantis who must officially announce the multi-million dollar investment in the battery plant in Zaragoza, which will lead to “news that will be historic”, as the government president put it. commented Aragon Jorge Azcon, The automaker will only be able to proclaim “habemus papam” when Beijing gives the green light to the creation of a new “joint venture.”
In the meantime, Stellantis and CATL continue to work together based on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) they signed in November 2020.3 on the local supply of battery cells and LFP (lithium iron phosphate) modules for the production of electric vehicles from the manufacturer resulting from the merger of PSA and the Fiat Chrysler consortium in Europe.
The memorandum, signed by Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, and Robin Zeng, President and CEO of CATL, establishes a long-term collaboration between the two companies on two strategic fronts: “creating a bold technology roadmap to support Stellantis’ advanced battery.” electric vehicles and identify opportunities to further strengthen the battery value chain.
Minister Hereu’s statement last Tuesday, in anyIn this case, he notes the “before” and “after” in the gigafactory project. Government funds allocated to Stellantis allow the effort to move forward more quickly.especially when the economic amount allocated through the various Perte VEC challenges was able to exceed the company’s forecasts.
More than 280 million
In particular, for the gigafactory, Stellantis received 55.86 million euros in the second round and will receive another 133.7 million euros in the third. To the sum of these amounts, 189.56 million, we can add those received through the Perte VEC assistance line in the value chain, 56.3 million, money that the company will use to install the STLA Small electric vehicle platform in the Figueruelas plant, which will be shared with the Vigo plant and through which plug-in versions of cars such as the Opel Corsa, Peugeot 208 and even the DS 3 will operate. To electrify the Aragon plant and the giant factory that could be built next to it, Stellantis is relying on European funds from Perte VEC, which exceed 280 million euros. Through another Perte, namely decarbonization, Figueuelas will receive 13.88 million, as announced by the Ministry of Industry in a statement last Monday.
At an event last Tuesday at the Puente Pavilion, Mobility City’s headquarters, President Azkon asked for “prudence” following the minister’s announcement of new assistance to the gigafactory until Stellantis officially announced that the project would be implemented. Representatives from the auto industry and trade unions in Aragon emphasized the value of the “push” provided by the Perth funds. “It’s Stellantis’ turn to play the game,” said Benito Tessier, president of the automotive cluster. “The decision cannot be delayed for long,” said José Juan Arceis, secretary general of the UGT of Aragon.
Meanwhile, no one knows about the difficult scenario that this sector is going through due to low sales of electric vehicles in Europe compared to what was expected at the moment. This scenario is also influenced by the European Union’s recent approval of tariffs imposed on electric vehicles from China.a, vary depending on the manufacturer and the information it provided to the European Commission during the previous investigation. In this vote, Spain was one of the countries that abstained, as could be expected after its initial position and changes following Pedro Sánchez’s visit to China, where he met with several representatives of Chinese manufacturers.