Car Fule

A fourth battery factory will be set up in France. This was announced by the Taiwanese company ProLogium last week, which intends to make France “a pioneering land for mass production of a new generation of batteries”called “solid”, more resistant and more powerful than the previous ones.

Gilles Normand, vice-president in charge of international development of the ProLogium group, declared that “there are many reasons for setting up in France”. This comes as President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Dunkirk last Friday to highlight the reindustrialization of the regionwith in particular the establishment of several battery factories over the next few years.

A fourth battery factory in France

In total, ProLogium plans to invest 5.2 billion euros in Dunkirk by 2030 in order to reach an annual production capacity of 48 GWh, enough to supply several hundred thousand cars. The group hopes to start production at the end of 2026 and increase its capacity over several years, thus creating 3,000 jobs in the factory and 12,000 indirect jobs in the territory.

According to Gilles Normand, the Taiwanese company wanted to have access to “carbon-free electricity”and in Dunkirk, not only “ nuclear electricity is available, but there is also the presence of offshore wind turbines”. He is delighted to see a real ecosystem for batteries developing in the north of France, where three other “gigafactory” projects have already been announced, in Douvrin (which is scheduled to open at the end of May), in Douai and Dunkirk with the French start-up Verkor.

This implementation will allow ProLogium to reach “critical mass”, promoting the installation of material suppliers. Indeed, current lithium batteries are very greedy in metals such as lithium, graphite or cobalt, whose supply chain is largely controlled by China.

Gilles Normand also emphasizes “the importance of proximity to customers”as many electric car factories are in Northern Europe, and Dunkirk is very well connected by rail, road and a deep water port, making it easy to import and export their products.

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What is a so-called “solid” battery?

Solid-state batteries, or solid-state batteries, are a technology that will contribute to the democratization of electric vehicles in the years to come. The advantages are many: they offer more autonomy, and their lifespan can exceed 15 yearswhich will make it possible to use an electric car for a longer period than at present.

The recharge time is also greatly improved: some solid-state batteries can indeed be recharged to 80% in just a few minutes, which drastically reduces downtime at a charging station during long journeys. Solid-state batteries also have an environmental advantage, since they carry fewer heavy metals, and limit the risk of fire.