EU political leaders have long called for a coordinated effort for homemade batteries that would free carmakers from relying on China (AFP Photo/Manjunath Kiran) |
European governments and companies will form an alliance for developing next-generation batteries for electric vehicles, investing five to six billion euros ($5.6 to $6.7 billion) in the project, the French and German finance ministers said Thursday.
France's
Bruno Le Maire said a maximum of 1.2 billion euros in public subsidies would be
granted to the alliance, at a press conference with his German counterpart
Peter Altmaier.
"Other
member states have already expressed interest in joining this project," Le
Maire said, including Italy, Belgium, Poland, Austria and Finland.
He said at
least four billion euros would come from private companies, citing automaker
PSA and the French battery maker Saft, a unit of French oil giant Total.
"Today
we are seeing more interest than ever" in the project, Altmaier said,
adding that 35 companies had already pledged to sign up, including Europe's
biggest automakers.
Political
leaders across the European Union have long called for a coordinated effort for
home-made batteries that would free carmakers from having to rely on Chinese
batteries as the industry shifts away from combustion engines.
A pilot
factory with around 200 employees will be opened in the coming months in
France, with a goal of opening two production sites, in France and Germany,
that would generate 1,500 jobs at each.
European
automakers have been ramping up electric vehicle production after years of
scandals over diesel pollution and as tougher rules on cutting carbon emissions
come into force.
But EU
carmakers buy cells from foreign manufacturers, mostly in Asia, which they use
to build the high-capacity batteries needed to power electric vehicles.
Germany and
France in particular have been pushing for a pan-European consortium to develop
new battery technologies that would be built domestically, along the lines of the
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
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