As part of its move towards building more electrified vehicles, Stellantis is in talks with the Italian government to create a new battery factory in the European country.
“Discussions are just at the stage of an exchange on the principle of creating a gigafactory in order to cover [Stellantis‘] future needs,” an unnamed source told Reuters. “These conditions will have to be studied with Italian authorities.”
The source added that no decision had been reached at this point but Stellantis is on the lookout for new factory locations. The group announced in April that it would be looking to build additional battery plants in Europe and the United States this year.
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The Italian government also recently announced a €205 billion ($250 billion) recovery plan that would see it investing in its battery, solar, and wind power industries. According to Reuter’s source, the government met with Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares and Chairman John Elkann in a virtual meeting.
“An exchange took place on the principle of the coverage of Stellantis needs in batteries, and given the group produces numerous vehicles in Italy, there would be a shared interest in discussing the conditions of a gigafactory in Italy,” the source said.
Indeed, a government source told the outlet last week that Italy had been in talks with the automaker about incentivizing the construction of a battery plant via funds from the recovery plan.
Stellantis will need to hurry up its battery production if its plan to electrify almost every one of its European model lines by 2025. The automaker has also previously said that 70% of its lineup would be electrified by 2030. To supply that production, Stellantis has gigafactories planned in both France and Germany.
