"Electric cars, I think are more so the future than paper and printing," says Gregory Lecoq, a former printing press worker, now an employee of the Automotive Cell Company (ACC)'s new gigafactory in northern France. The country's first battery plant for electric cars in the Pas-de Calais department is a major industrial event for France, which wants to ensure its independence from China and even become an exporter by the end of the decade. According to the vice president of ACC's gigafactory industrial project, the site will produce its first batteries by August. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES