Stellantis, a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation, announced plans to transform its existing plant in Termoli, Italy, into a new battery facility to support Automotive Cells Company’s (ACC), an electricity vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer, planned plant investment.

The Termoli plant, where Fiat has been producing engines and powertrains for 50 years, will be ACC’s third battery production site, alongside a plant in France (Billy-Berclau/Douvrin), scheduled to come online in 2023, and another one in Germany (Kaiserslautern) plants, due to come online in 2025. ACC expects both facilities will each be able to produce annually at least 40GWh of batteries, against the 24 GWh of its initial plan. This investment plan will mobilise more than €7bn, according to the statement from ACC.

The new facility would contribute towards achieving ACC’s objective of at least 120 GWh of EV battery capacity by 2030, Stellantis said in a statement on March 23.

ACC was established in August 2020 by Stellantis and TotalEnergies and supported by the French, German, and European authorities. Mercedes-Benz joined as a new equal partner of ACC on March 23. 

As part of the transformation plan, ACC and the Italian authorities signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 21, according to ACC’s statement. 

“Transforming the existing plant to help support a more sustainable future positions ACC as the European leader in battery manufacturing and reaffirms, thanks to the collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Development, Italy’s role in supporting Stellantis’ transformation to a sustainable mobility tech company,” Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, said in a statement.

In addition, ACC’s partners, Stellantis and TotalEnergies, finalised the agreement to add Mercedes-Benz as a new equal partner of ACC on the same day, March 23.  

“The arrival of Mercedes-Benz brings a vote of confidence in our technological roadmap and in the competitiveness of our products, which significantly strengthens ACC's commercial potential and supports our ambitious growth plans,” Yann Vincent, ACC's CEO, said in the statement.