Stellantis and CATL have announced that they have reached an agreement to invest 4.1 billion euros to form a joint venture that will build an LFP (lithium iron phosphate) (LFP) battery factory in Zaragoza.
Designed to be completely carbon neutral, the Zaragoza battery factory will be implemented in several phases and investment plans. The idea is to start production at the end of 2026 and could reach 50 GWh of capacity, depending on how the European electric car market evolves. The joint venture 50% between CATL and Stellantis will boost the offer of this battery technology in Stellantis, especially in the B and C segments.
The union between both companies began with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in November 2023. The idea was to draw up a technological roadmap to support Stellantis’ battery electric vehicles and identify opportunities to further strengthen the value chain of Stellantis. the batteries.
Why in Spain? Because Stellantis has achieved 357.8 million euros in subsidies of the Perte VEC, for its three plants (especially Vigo and Zaragoza, the one in Madrid is still awaiting future plans) and this gigafactory, which is added to the one that the Volkswagen group is building in Sagunto (Valencia) and others planned.
“Stellantis is committed to a decarbonized future, encompassing all the advanced battery technologies available to bring competitive electric cars to our customers,” said John Elkann, president of Stellantis. For his part, Robin Zeng, Chairman and CEO of CATL, stated that “CATL’s goal is to make zero carbon technology accessible worldwide, and we look forward to cooperating with our partners globally through more innovative cooperation models.” .
Production in Vigo and Zaragoza is assured in the next decade thanks to the STLA Small platform in both factories (the basis for the Group’s small cars). For now Villaverde (Madrid) will focus on the manufacturing of the C4 and C4 X.
