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| Europe wants the lead in electric vehicle batteries |
Continental Europe hopes to play a leading role in electric vehicle batteries many years after it was sold to foreign companies.
Continental Europe is expected to lead global electric vehicle sales for the second year in a row. Hence, people are keen to build a battery supply chain from scratch across Europe.
In the northern region, potential manufacturers in Germany, France, Great Britain and Poland are competing on a transcontinental basis to dump the dominance of Chinese company CATL and South Korea's LG Energy.
The competition for the regional tournament continues: with government support, the tournament has received at least 6.1 billion euros in funding, and the total amount of investment plans is ten times higher than in just one year.
Participants included startups Northvolt, Britishvolt and Automotive Cells, as well as Tesla and Volkswagen.
By 2030, the European continent's share of global battery production could reach 31%, compared to 7% the previous year.
“We are creating a new industry in Europe, we are building a new ecosystem and investment is flowing into it,” said European Commission Vice President for Battery Planning (Marus Sivkovic).
Civkovic estimates that the planned investment will be 60 billion euros ($ 71 billion), three times the investment in China.
These investments span the entire supply chain, from materials and units to assembly and recycling.
Last year, electric vehicle sales in Europe doubled to nearly 1.3 million, overtaking China for the first time.
With Volkswagen, Stalantis and BMW laying out plans for new models and productivity gains, that number could reach 1.9 million this year, and Ford and Volvo are committed to developing almost entirely electric cars.
These ambitions require a lot of energy. Political leaders in Germany, France and Brussels rejected the domestic auto industry's reliance on outside suppliers, including battery manufacturers outside Europe.
It is estimated that the European region has 27 battery manufacturing facilities that can produce at least 500 gigawatts of batteries this decade.
Last month, Volkswagen launched an estimated $ 18 billion plan to build six battery plants in Europe and expand its network of fast charging stations.
If all goes well, German automakers and their partners could outpace their competitors and become the second largest battery manufacturer in the world after CATL.
The European Commission has set itself the goal of having at least 30 million zero-emissions cars on the road by 2030. The goal is for European factories to meet more than 90% of the battery needs.
Demand for batteries is expected to be so strong that production of batteries will not be able to keep pace at the end of this decade.
However, it remains difficult for startups to catch up with CATL, LG Energy and Panasonic and operate in Asia and the US for several years before migrating to Europe.
CATL is the largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries and will invest $ 12 billion over the next four years to reach a production capacity of around 230 GW worldwide.
The Chinese company supplies products to nearly all major brands of electric cars in the world and is expected to start production in Germany this year.
Then there is Tesla, the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer. Tesla sold nearly 1 million cars last year and plans to assemble Y batteries and batteries in Germany in an era of European expansion.
When it comes to startups, Northvolt, founded by former Tesla executives, has been ahead of its competitors for several years and hopes to capture 25% of the European battery market by 2030.
Northvolt has signed a $ 14 billion supply deal with Volkswagen and BMW and plans to produce the battery at the Swedish plant before the end of the year.
Britishvolt plans to build a $ 3.6 billion plant in Northeast England later this year and is in talks with electric vehicle manufacturers in the UK, the European Union, the United States and Japan.
Automotive Cells also plans to accelerate expansion by producing batteries at former auto parts manufacturers.