Seat urges the Government to start the PERTE of the electric car

Seat has inaugurated today in Martorell the Test Center Energy (TCE), the center of battery research and development, with what gives a Another twist to the Spanish Government to start the automotive PERTE, a plan to which the European Commission already gave the green light last Thursday and which depends on the Volkswagen group to definitively award the production in the Catalan plant and in the Landaben plant (Navarra) of the future compact electric models of the automobile group. The ball is, more than ever, in the field of the Spanish executive who today has been represented by the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant.

The Government indicates that the activation of PERTE will take place in the next few days, but from the Spanish brand they have asked for greater speed in this start-up since the industrial future of the company depends on it. At the opening ceremony Wayne Griffiths, president of Seat SA (made up of the Cupra and Seat brands), has stated that the company wants to be an example of transformation as a country.

Griffiths states that: “We have the opportunity and the responsibility to completely change our industry. And now we need the funds to make these projects a reality. We hope that the Government will publish the PERTE because further delays in the call would be critical for relevant Future Fast Forward projects (the electrified future plan of Seat and the Volkswagen group). Should To put the batteries. We have done our homework. “In the background is the issue of the installation of a battery plant in Spain. Griffiths has indicated that “it will only be installed in Spain if the PERTE incentives allow it”, so he considers that “it is too soon today to talk about where this battery factory will be installed. ”

The minister Diana Morant has reiterated that the plan will be approved “in the next few days”, avoiding giving more clues, which is not liked in the sector. The start-up must be very meticulous, according to sources close to it, since legally it cannot have any legal loopholes. It is the first plan of this type that Brussels approves and the rest of the aid plans requested from other European countries will depend on how it is executed. The minister stressed that with laboratories like this, talent will make possible new energy systems for a new sustainable and connected mobility: “Pioneering initiatives help the world move towards climate neutrality and a more competitive and fair economic model.” It didn’t get any more wet.

The Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent, He has also attended the inauguration and in his parliament thanked the automobile company for continuing to rely on Catalonia for its business projects, arguing that here they have qualified professionals with experience and willingness to adapt to this transition process and “with a government willing to collaborate with whatever is possible to facilitate it.”

A pioneering center

The new installation of the Test Center Energy, located in the vicinity of the Technical Center of the Martorell factory, has 1,500 square meters and it has been erected in just a year and a half at a cost of just over seven million euros. It is the first center to open in Europe outside of those the group has in Germany, and it completes the development network together with those in the United States and China.

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The new center has several test spaces for the validation of cell modules, medium and high voltage batteries, as well as different chargers used in the entire range of electrified vehicles. It also has several climatic chambers that allow to carry out tests with batteries and modules under extreme thermal conditions (from -25 to 55 degrees of temperature), thus simulating the different environments in which a car can be found during its life cycle.

The ECA has a 1.3 megawatts installed power (the necessary for about 350 homes with all the electrical appliances in operation), it has 25 employees and has the capacity to make up to 6,000 full analyzes validation of the functions related to the high voltage system. Batteries undergo an average of 17,500 hours of testing to ensure performance throughout their life cycle. Those responsible for the center insist on the importance of these tests and agree that a key part will be the work to recycle batteries and their materials.