The European Commission has opened a call for proposals worth up to €1.5 billion in interest-free loans for companies making electric vehicle battery cells in the European Economic Area. Applications can be submitted until September 30.
The money comes from the Innovation Fund, which is financed by revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System. Loans can cover up to 60 per cent of eligible costs, with a maximum of €500 million per beneficiary.
The call falls under the Battery Booster Facility, established on June 9 as part of a wider strategy to expand European production capacity and reduce outside dependence. It is the first time the Commission has backed the sector with loans rather than grants.
The financing is aimed at the ramp-up phase between the first production runs and the start of commercial activity. The Commission said firms faced heavy costs during that period, before plants began generating revenue on a stable basis.
Brussels expects the instrument to help projects expand output and attract private investment.
To qualify, projects must be sited in the European Economic Area and produce cells suitable for use in electric vehicles. They must also have reached the ramp-up phase at the opening of the call.
The Commission requires that the plant be the applicant’s first anywhere in the world to manufacture the components commercially at full capacity, with planned annual output of at least 10 gigawatt hours.
Applications will be assessed against criteria set out in the call, among them the technical and financial maturity of the projects and their contribution to the European battery ecosystem.
Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said when the facility was created that it “steps in at the most critical and capital-intensive phase of industrial scale-up”.
The scheme follows a bruising period for European cell manufacturers. Sweden’s Northvolt, once the bloc’s flagship producer, went bankrupt in 2024 and its assets were sold to a US buyer.
Porsche wound up its Cellforce venture in 2025 and the Stellantis-led Automotive Cells Company shelved planned factories in Germany and Italy. Volvo Cars placed its Novo Energy subsidiary into hibernation in January and Norway’s Morrow Batteries ran into financial trouble in May.
Chinese manufacturers account for more than 80 per cent of world battery output and European carmakers have turned increasingly to Chinese partners for cells and expertise.
The Commission published guidance in January allowing Chinese carmakers to swap tariffs on electric vehicles for minimum price commitments and accepted the first such offer in February.
Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné said in June that “Europe will invest in its own industrial strength”.
