The corporate venture fund of Stellantis N.V. STLA, Stellantis Venture, announced a strategic investment in Tiamat, which designs, develops and manufactures sodium-ion batteries for mobility and stationary energy storage.
The sodium-ion battery has a lower cost per kilowatt-hour and is free of lithium and cobalt. Sodium is available in abundance and increases sustainability and material sovereignty.
Tiamat was honored with a Stellantis Ventures Award in 2023. It is the first company in the world to commercialize sodium-ion technology in electrified products.
Access to sodium-ion battery technology will help the automaker provide clean, safe and affordable mobility solutions to its customers around the globe. The sodium-ion battery technology is a more cost-efficient alternative to its lithium-ion counterpart.
Shifting to electric propulsion is the core of the Dare Forward 2030 plan. As part of this strategic plan, Stellantis aims to achieve a 100% electric vehicle (“EV”) sales mix in Europe and 50% passenger car and light-duty truck battery electric vehicle (“BEV”) sales mix in the United States by the end of the decade.
Stellantis is securing approximately 400-gigawatt hour (“GWh”) of battery capacity to achieve these targets and is on track to become a carbon net zero company by 2038.
Stellantis has been signing key contracts around the world to obtain EV raw materials through 2027. The automaker is also making investments in the development of alternative technologies for energy storage.
Tiamat is a spin-off of the French National Centre for Scientific Research. It will use proceeds raised from the fundraising round to begin the construction of a sodium-ion battery facility in France for power tools and stationary storage applications. Consequently, it aims to scale up the production of second-generation products for BEV applications.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
STLA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked players in the auto space are Volvo VLVLY, Mercedes-Benz Group AG MBGAF and NIO Inc. NIO. While VLVLY and MBGAF each sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, NIO carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VLVLY’s 2023 sales and earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 4.2% and 73.1%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2023 and 2024 have improved by 4 cents and 3 cents, respectively, in the past 30 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MBGAF’s 2023 sales implies year-over-year growth of 5.8%. The EPS estimates for 2023 and 2024 have moved up a penny and 30 cents, respectively, in the past 60 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NIO’s 2023 sales indicates year-over-year growth of 10.4%. The EPS estimate for 2023 has improved by 2 cents in the past 30 days. The EPS estimate for 2024 has improved by 4 cents in the past seven days.
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