AESC was one of the first suppliers of electric vehicle batteries to Nissan for the first generation Nissan Leaf. The existing second-generation Leaf uses batteries produced at the Envision AESC plant in Tennessee.
In 2019, the Chinese battery specialist announced plans for a new 20 GWh battery plant in Jiangsu, China. Envision AESC is also working on establishing a new 9 GWh site in Sunderland.
Other automakers linked to Envision AESC include Nissan’s Alliance partner Renault. It announced plans to build a new 9 GWh plant in Douai, France, by 2024.
Mercedes-Benz announced on Tuesday the start of operations of its own battery assembly operations in Tuscaloosa, revealing plans to invest more than $46bn (£35bn) from 2022 to 2030 to develop and produce electric models.
The dedicated battery assembly plant is expected to employ up to 600 people. It is part of a $1bn (£770m) investment in the Tuscaloosa plant to start production of the EQS and EQE SUVs later this year.
Until supply of Envision AESC begins, Mercedes-Benz will respond to an existing network of partners for battery cells and modules.
The German automaker says it has developed a “next-generation battery” that claims to offer greater energy density and faster charging than the units used in its existing EQ-badged models thanks to the adoption of a new cell chemistry that reduces the cobalt content. at 10 percent.
The lithium-ion batteries are assembled in packs on a 300 meter long production line with more than 70 workstations.
Operations in the United States complement similar battery assembly plants established by Mercedes-Benz in Germany, China, Poland and Thailand.
Plans are to build a network of eight cell manufacturing sites around the world with production capacity of up to 200 GWh by the end of 2030, according to Schaefer.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-15 18:45:01
