Automobile industry, second most important sector in Morocco following agriculture, plans to reach an annual production capacity of around one million electric cars in the coming years.
For the time being, the ambition is to reach a production capacity of electric cars of 100,000 vehicles per year, within two to three years, thus doubling the current production, indicated the Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour.
It is that Morocco now wants to be a global hub for the manufacture of electric vehicles, most of which will be exported, mainly to the EU while encouraging domestic demand which shines with its timidity. Indeed, these do not represent more than 4% of total car sales in Morocco.
In the first half of the year, 83,831 electric cars were sold. This is attributed to weak charging infrastructure and the Executive is planning to develop a plan to boost charging points to boost domestic demand for electric vehicles.
In addition, the Kingdom will have to secure the supply of batteries, essential for this type of vehicle. ” This objective can be achieved with current industrial capacities, without taking into account future foreign investments. Mezzour told Asharq Business.
To this end, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced last July that it was negotiating with battery manufacturers to build a giga-factory before the end of 2022.
This facility will give a major boost to the automotive sector and facilitate the switch to electric cars to reduce carbon emissions. Morocco is committed to this project, not only because of the benefits to be derived from it, but also because of its reserves of cobalt, an essential element for the manufacture of electric batteries. The Kingdom, which has been mining cobalt since 1930, is one of the world’s five largest producers of this material, according to data from the company Managem collected by Asharq Business.
The company is also involved in the production of electric cars, having signed an agreement with Renault in June under which the French company will buy cobalt sulphate for the production of batteries. Another company in this field is the Franco-Italian company STMicroelectronics, which specializes in the manufacture of electronic products and semiconductors.
This summer, it inaugurated a new production line in its Bouskoura plant dedicated to the elements used in electric cars, in particular new generation chips. At the end of July, the automotive sector already had a turnover of around 5.6 billion dollars, according to the Arab media. The Kingdom is also home to Renault and Stallantis factories which produce around 700,000 cars a year, 50,000 of which are electric.
Most vehicles produced in Morocco are exported abroad, notably to EU countries, where it was recently agreed to ban the sale of cars with internal combustion engines from 2035.
Since 2017, the Kingdom has been the leading car manufacturer in Africa and will position itself in 2021 as the second exporter of this product to Europe. Advances in technology and concern for a greener future have led to the search for more sustainable options such as electric cars, which the Kingdom is beginning to market as it prepares to take the first steps in mass production of these vehicles. .
Morocco has announced the construction of the country’s first electric battery factory which will be located in the Casablanca region, where it will be able to export its products nationally and internationally.
The project has a budget of more than 75 million dirhams. Morocco, for its prestige will become one of the few countries capable of producing this type of product. This is possible thanks to the mineral resources that the geography of the Kingdom has, in particular deposits of cobalt, fluorine and phosphate, which, among other materials, are essential for the production and design of electric batteries.
The significant production of automobiles of Moroccan origin is quite abundant, and might position Morocco as a new hub. Currently, Asian countries are the world leaders in the production of these vehicles, but the Kingdom might very soon dislodge them.
