Automotive Cells Company (ACC), a European automotive battery provider, is looking for South Korean partners to join forces to produce batteries for 1.7 million EVs by 2030.

Jean Baptiste Pernot, ACC chief operating officer (COO) said in an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper, that Korea is an industrial powerhouse with skilled work force and that the company wished to find partners in the Korean battery materials, components and equipment sectors.

ACC was founded in 2020 as a joint venture between Saft, a subsidiary of French energy group Total, and automobile company Stellantis. Mercedes-Benz has recently joined the battery maker as the third partner. It was funded 2.8 billion euros ($3.2 billion) from the European Union.

The European EV battery maker plans to mainly produce high-nickel and all-solid-state batteries. Pernot said making batteries that support a 1,000-kilometer (621.4 miles) driving range on a single charge is technically possible, and whether it can produce it or not hinges on requests from finished car manufacturing customers.

He said ACC is reluctant to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries because the battery is too heavy and hard to recycle.

ACC is eager to expand its client base beyond Stellantis and Mercedes, hoping Hyundai Motor to join its customer list, said Pernot.

By Lee Chuk-bok and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]