FILE PHOTO: CEO of Total Patrick Pouyanne attends the MEDEF union summer forum renamed La Rencontre des Entrepreneurs de France, LaREF, at the Paris Longchamp racecourse in Paris, France, August 29, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

PARIS (Reuters) - Oil major Total will not risk going alone in producing battery cells for electric vehicles, said Total’s chairman and chief executive Patrick Pouyanne on Thursday.

He also said the group was in talks with other companies on a battery consortium, adding that this would need subsidies.

France and Germany in April initiated a first European battery cell consortium, including carmaker PSA with its German subsidiary Opel, and French battery maker Saft, a unit of Total.