Renault taps Dunkirk spirit with new Gigafactory

Set to open in 2025, the facility is being developed by Grenoble-based battery manufacturer Verkor, in which Renault holds a financial stake. The two companies have entered a ‘a long-term commercial partnership’ which will see Renault absorb a significant proportion of the Gigafactory’s overall output, which could total 50 GWh by 2030. According to Renault, the batteries will be used in the upper segment vehicles of its brands, starting in 2025 with the Alpine 100 per cent electric C-Crossover GT, which will be manufactured in Dieppe, France.

“This commercial partnership allows us to secure a long-term supply of electric batteries and to ensure a reinforced traceability of the elements which compose them,” said Renault Group’s François Provost.

“It is in line with the ambition of the Group and its future entity Ampere dedicated to electric vehicles and software, to control the entire electric value chain. Renault Group is thus continuing to develop in France, at the heart of Europe, a robust electrical ecosystem of technology centres, vehicle, engine, and battery factories.”

In 2021, Renault Group acquired more than a 20 per cent stake in Verkor, joining other shareholders including EIT InnoEnergy, Groupe IDEC, Schneider Electric and Capgemini. Since then, Renault Group and Verkor have worked together on battery quality, economic competitiveness and the industrialisation process, as well as on the development of the Verkor Innovation Centre (VIC) in Grenoble and the plans for the Dunkirk Gigafactory.

"The trust that Renault Group has shown in us since the beginning is now materialised in this long-term commercial partnership,” said Benoit Lemaignan, co-founder and chairman of Verkor.

“This is further evidence of the attractiveness and credibility of our project as we raise the necessary funds to build our Gigafactory in Dunkirk. Manufacturing batteries in Europe and controlling the value chain are fundamental to the energy transition.”