Europe to boost battery output
Print Edition
As electric car sales take off and petrol engines face being phased out by 2035, Europe is looking to develop its own battery production base.
Far from being autonomous, Europe needs to accelerate domestic battery output as a national security issue as well as a boost for businesses and jobs.
Batteries that power electric cars and which weigh up to 600 kilograms, represent a considerable part of the vehicle鈥檚 value.
At the moment, they are mostly produced in Asia, with China, South Korea and Japan the leading manufacturers.
With a mid-July announcement that it intends to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035, the European Commission has set a timetable for the bloc鈥檚 shift to electric cars.
Many carmakers, having sensed which way the wind is blowing with governments, have now announced plans to shift towards electric vehicles.
Germany鈥檚 Daimler was the latest, announcing last week that from 2025 it will launch only electric vehicle platforms as it gears up for a full shift to electric cars from 2030.
It is not only governments pushing the change, as the latest European data shows that electric cars doubled their market share in the second quarter of 2021.
If Europe is going to shift to electric cars, it will need lots of batteries.
After years of slow progress, there are now plans to invest 40 billion euros (US$47 billion) in 38 European factories that could turn out 1,000 gigawatt hours of batteries per year, according to Transport & Environment, a non-governmental organization.
With average battery capacity of 60 kilowatt hours, that would be enough to power 16.7 million vehicles, according to the group.
One initiative is Sweden鈥檚 Northvolt, which already has a factory under construction that is to produce batteries with total capacity of 150 gigawatt hours by 2030.
Volkswagen is a major partner, and the German carmaker is seeking to build five other factories as well.
Daimler, as part of its announcement this past week, said it would build eight battery factories worldwide for its Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars.
Stellantis, which includes 12 brands including Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Peugeot, plans to build five factories in Europe and North America.
Tesla expects to open its first European 鈥済igafactory鈥 near Berlin later this year, which it claims will be the world鈥檚 largest battery cell production site with 250 gigawatt hours of capacity in 2030.
EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic recently said the planned factories put the EU 鈥渨ell on track to achieve open strategic autonomy in this critical sector.鈥
That view is not shared by Olivier Montique, an automotive analyst at Fitch Solutions.
He said the planned facilities 鈥渨ill make the bloc a significant player in the space, but will not enable it to meet anywhere close to all of its internal demand for EV batteries.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
