Giga-Fiasco in Northern France

Oil stains on the asphalt of the French automotive world… and the oil slick spreads.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to make a scathing observation, just a little hindsight. As Lithium experts and enthusiasts, it’s our duty to denounce what looks more and more like a white-collar robbery. Alerting also means pointing the finger at these irresponsible players who are lining their pockets without ever being convicted. It’s a sad state of affairs at the start of 2026.

Wondering why this tone of voice? Sit tight, especially if you’re an SME or a small, courageous entrepreneur, because what happens next will make your head spin.

Imagine a region that dreams of becoming a battery Eldorado: production, assembly, recycling… It’s all there. All financed by the generous manna of taxpayers, Europe and local authorities. We’ve been promised a technological revolution in sparkling new factories, worthy of a professional luxury manicure.

Sounds fantastic on paper, doesn’t it? Except that the pilots of these projects have never laid their hands on a battery in their lives. They know nothing about the physical reality of these objects before claiming to recycle them. So, geniuses? Talented? Or simply unaware? In 2026, we have the answer: it’s option 3, and the show goes on.

Remember our warnings about Lyten’s takeover of Northvolt? It’s the same scenario as Li-Cycle: you play the recycling marketing card to boost your share price, cash in, and give up once the wind changes.

Take Northvolt: 18 billion invested, 9 billion of which came straight out of Europe’s pocket. Today? A ghost.

As for Li-Cycle, which has been dangling the prospect of setting up in the North of France to the applause of gullible local councillors, it makes us laugh out loud. As chance would have it, we visited the factory in China that manufactured their recycling line. The verdict at first glance: a deplorable design, a non-compliant machine that will never be used. It was a pure showcase, a movie set for subsidies. We have the photos for you.

So, what’s left of our famous “Giga Factory” in the north of France? Flies and thousands of people waiting for jobs that won’t come. But rest assured: there will be no one to blame.

France’s international leadership? 1. Massive subcontracting: public money is used to give work to a “more flexible” foreign workforce. 2. Imaginary recycling: subsidies are ultimately used to fill containers with raw materials bound for Korea or China. Ingenious, isn’t it?

Who pays? You do. Not us, we’re in China. But we don’t accompany our customers to make fun of them; we do it to find real solutions for those who are disillusioned by this fiasco.

The North’s “Giga Factory” has turned into a Giga Diversion. Today, we are told that lithium has taken a “step backwards”, just as hydrogen was buried three years ago after being hailed as a miracle.

If you’re reading this and dreaming of technical or development advice, the good news is that it’s possible to extricate yourself from this sad state of affairs. We’re here to help you with technical advice and support, far from the state’s infusions. As far as subsidies are concerned, you won’t get any with us (sorry!), but we’re developing technologies that will give you a real place and independence for the future.

Stay away from media that sell you tomorrow’s “miracle revolution” to mask today’s mediocrity. The miracle product that changes the world with a snap of the fingers only exists in children’s books.

We offer concrete solutions: recycling, reuse, assembly, diagnostics. The advice is free, the machine is not, but it works. Whether it’s Sodium or Lithium, far from the LinkedIn videos of those who don’t understand the trickery, we’re here to take your business to the next level.