ACC reports five million battery cells “made in France”
Stellantis, Mercedes, and TotalEnergies’ battery joint venture, Automotive Cells Company (ACC), announced that it has produced its fifth million cells at its factory in France. The plant’s second production line, with a capacity of 12.9 GWh, is set to begin operations in 2027.
Image: ACC
ACC reports that, on the occasion of the Paris Auto Show, the current cell output at the Douvrin site corresponds to equipping nearly 40,000 vehicles with its own battery cells. The joint venture also announces that it will bring the second production line at the factory online in 2027 to specifically manufacture batteries for Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles. This will increase the plant’s capacity by 12.9 GWh, bringing it to just under 26 GWh. The ultimate target is three production lines with a total manufacturing capacity of around 40 GWh.
Background: Automotive Cells Company is one of the few European manufacturers of battery cells and modules for electric vehicles. Founded in 2020, the company develops and produces batteries based on NMC chemistry. Its shareholders include Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, and Saft, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies. Currently, ACC employs around 2,500 workers at various locations in France: specifically in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, where the research and development center as well as the pilot plant are located, and in the Hauts-de-France metropolitan region, which houses the Gigafactory in Douvrin.
ACC batteries in eight Stellantis electric vehicles to date
The management emphasizes that ACC has “grown significantly and greatly improved its industrial maturity” since the last auto show two years ago. The company’s cells and modules are now used in eight luxury electric vehicle models, all of which are marketed by the Stellantis Group. These include the Peugeot E-3008 and E-5008, the Jeep Compass, the Lancia Gamma, the DS N° 7 and N° 8, the Citroën C5 Aircross, and the Opel Grandland.
Allan Swan, ACC’s CEO since May 2026, emphasizes: “Reaching the milestone of 5 million cells produced in France is a significant achievement for ACC and clear evidence of the progress our teams have made over the past years. It shows that Europe is capable of developing and industrializing advanced battery technologies on a large scale.” At the same time, the challenge of competitiveness remains: “Europe must now ensure that its industrial ambitions are supported by a framework that allows battery production to operate under equal competitive conditions. Only a competitive European offering will be able to meet the demand for ‘Made in the EU’ products,” Swan stresses.
“The quota targets are approaching.”
The background is the draft “Industrial Accelerator Act” (IAA) under discussion in the EU, along with its efforts to promote “Made in Europe” products. Swan hopes for a rapid introduction of the IAA, which would provide the necessary support to boost demand for batteries manufactured in Europe. However, there are also voices concerned that the EU industry may not be able to meet its own battery needs on its own.
Independent of industrial policy guidelines, ACC still faces its own challenges. The most prominent one is the high waste rate in cell and module production. The company’s interim report states, “The waste rates are steadily approaching the target value.” It also adds, “ACC is successfully supplying Stellantis in accordance with the agreed production plans.”
Stellantis struggles with battery shortages
About two weeks ago, the situation looked different: News agencies Reuters and Handelsblatt reported at the end of September that Stellantis would suspend production at its French plants in Sochaux, Rennes, and Mulhouse for at least a week each. In two cases, this was due to shortages in the supply of electric vehicle batteries from ACC.
The suspension is only indirectly related to the lack of large nickel-based batteries from ACC. Stellantis primarily does not want to produce too many other types of vehicles “to avoid building up inventory that does not match customer demand,” according to the company. The officials explained that it is especially the electric long-range models (with ACC batteries) that are in high demand, and customers currently have to wait very long for them.
The plant in Sochaux, in eastern France, where models such as the Peugeot 3008 and Peugeot 5008 are produced, is set to shut down specifically from October 23rd to 30th. The factory in Rennes will close from October 22nd to 30th as well, where the Citroën C5 Aircross is manufactured among other products. The production halt also announced in Mulhouse from October 15th to 30th is said to have other reasons unrelated to battery shortages.
For context: Supply issues with ACC cells have long been a major bottleneck for Stellantis’ production. The joint venture originally planned to build three plants in France, Germany, and Italy, but now focuses only on getting its single cell factory in Douvrin, France, up and running, having canceled the other two major projects.
The ramp-up process proved difficult
As Bloomberg reported in February, citing internal sources, things are not going smoothly at Douvrin either. ACC was able to equip only about 1,000 cars per month with long-range batteries at the beginning of the year, far below the original target. The joint venture is said to have brought in a team of experts from China to boost production and reduce high defect rates. ACC also admitted to fundamental problems in February: “Getting things up and running is difficult, but we learn every day and are doing our best to serve our customers as well as possible,” ACC Secretary-General Matthieu Hubert said at the time in response to Bloomberg’s inquiry.
Stellantis is using battery cells from the ACC factory in Douvrin in the aforementioned electric vehicles based on the company’s STLA Medium platform. Bloomberg reported as early as February that there would be delivery delays of up to eight months for these vehicles equipped with ACC cells.
Long-Range Models with Very Long Delivery Times
In April, a report by “Automobilwoche” stated that private customers in particular would have to wait a very long time for their long-range models, with the article focusing specifically on the relevant versions of the Opel Grandland as well as the Peugeot E-3008 and E-5008. “Our deliveries have been postponed to the first or second quarter of 2027,” an Stellantis dealer told the industry magazine at the time. Other dealers apparently no longer received any firm delivery dates either.
The situation was and remains controversial for Stellantis brands: it only affects customers willing to pay nearly 5,000 euros more for a larger battery with a capacity of 97 instead of 73 kWh and the corresponding increase in range, compared to the same model with a smaller battery.
ACC is said to have reduced waste rates and further stabilized production. However, “Regrettably, we still don’t have enough batteries, even though ACC has made great progress in production,” emphasized a Stellantis spokesperson to Reuters regarding the announced plant shutdowns. Demand for long-range models is particularly high among fleet customers and continues to exceed current supply.