Italian ACC battery factory likely to close for good

The decision is imminent and could be officially announced by the end of this year or in the first few months of 2026, reports the Italian newspaper Milano Finanza (MF). According to unspecified sources, management has concluded that the project is “no longer profitable due to technical, financial and strategic difficulties that are slowing growth,” MF writes.

Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa is said to have stated during his recent visit to Italy in October that Stellantis, as the largest shareholder, expects a decision from ACC by the end of the year. An ACC spokesperson told Milano Finanza that there was no new information.

Over the past year and a half, it has become increasingly uncertain whether the cell factory announced in 2022 will actually be built at the Stellantis engine plant – the same applies to the factory also planned in Kaiserslautern. Work on both sites was put on hold in June 2024 when ACC revised its strategy, and a switch to a different cell chemistry was on the cards. When, months later, there was still no commitment to the Termoli plant, the Italian government withdrew its funding commitment in September 2024. TotalEnergies, as an ACC shareholder, also openly questioned further ACC battery factories in February and decided to focus on the only ACC cell factory in operation in France.

But things are not going smoothly in Douvrin either. Milano Finanza reports rejection rates of between 15 and 20 per cent, which means reduced capacity to supply battery packs to Stellantis – currently ACC’s only customer. “According to internal data, the plant will not be able to deliver more than 15,000 to 20,000 battery packs in the last four months of the year, a level that is well below expectations, while production costs are 20 to 25 per cent higher than those of its Asian competitors,” the report states.

All in all, this is likely to have contributed to Stellantis looking for alternatives to ACC in order to obtain battery cells from European production. In December 2024, the carmaker and Chinese battery market leader CATL confirmed the construction of an LFP battery factory in Spain. According to Milano Finanza, the foundation stone for the battery factory is now scheduled to be laid in Zaragoza at the end of November. Instead of Termoli, Stellantis is likely to obtain its cheaper LFP cells from Zaragoza – albeit with a different partner.

milanofinanza.it (in Italian)

This article was first published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition.