Leapmotor opens battery assembly workshop near Stellantis-CATL plant in Spain

MADRID, June 23 (Reuters) - Leapmotor International, a joint venture between Stellantis and Chinese EV maker Leapmotor, opened a new battery assembly workshop on Tuesday near an EV and battery plant in Spain owned by Stellantis and China's CATL.

Here are the details, provided in a statement by Leapmotor:

• The workshop, in the municipality of Mallen, will supply around 65,000 battery modules, with space to level up production to a maximum of about 100,000 units.

• It will be capable of assembling batteries of different chemistries and will begin by making lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, a cost-effective storage option for electric vehicles.

• Spanish and Chinese staff will work side by side at the plant, including Spanish workers recently trained at a battery facility in China.

• Leapmotor, which is partly owned by Stellantis, is due to begin assembling its B10 electric SUV at the plant in the northeastern Spanish region of Aragon from late 2026.

• CATL is due to begin production of battery cells at the factory by the end of the year.

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Susan Fenton)