Electric cars: 13.000 employees trained in Hauts-de-France

These three future gigafactories on French territory, located between Dunkirk and the mining basin, will offer 13.000 jobs within five years, including 7.500 direct jobs, according to representatives of the sector, who have formed a consortium with around forty partners to ensure the training of future recruits.

"Having the factories is good, having the staff is better", underlined the president of the region, Xavier Bertrand, presenting in Lille this pioneering training program, called Electromob.

The Hauts-de-France region and National Education are stakeholders in the program, endowed with 25 million euros and responsible for responding to the "historic transformation" of the automobile, with the ban on sales of new cars to heat engine from 2035 in the European Union.

It is also a question of preparing the ground for the installation of other activities in this sector which is still in its infancy in Europe, such as the refining of graphite upstream or the recycling of batteries downstream.

A technical platform presented as unique in Europe must open in May in Douvrin (Pas-de-Calais) to train Stellantis employees, so that they can integrate the ACC battery factory (joint venture of Stellantis, TotalEnergies and Mercedes-Benz) . This training will be open to outsiders.

Introducing middle and high school students to these professions, adapting and developing existing diplomas in chemistry or industrial maintenance, training in driving complex machines or working in clean rooms: the program covers both initial and continuing training.

Training 13.000 people in five years, "it's doable, but it's a hell of a challenge", recognized the regional academic rector, Valérie Cabuil, underlining the urgency of the needs.

The first gigafactory to come into operation will be ACC, which will produce this summer to equip Stellantis vehicles.

It will be followed by the plant of the Sino-Japanese group AESC-Envision, which will produce for Renault from the beginning of 2025, then by the Grenoble start-up Verkor, which will produce from mid-2025, mainly for Renault as well.