Currently reading: Europe must develop 'next gen' batteries to rival China
Leading industry executive says Europe must invest in 'dry' battery technology if it wants to end China's market dominance as electric car cell supplier

Europe will have to develop next-generation ‘dry’ battery technology if it wants to build a supplier industry for electric car cells.

Speaking at the FT Future of the Car Summit in London, Roberto Vavassori, the head of Europe’s car supplier body CLEPA, said: “We need to go to the next-generation for post-lithium wet batteries.

"This is a 50gW battery industry, and one Chinese company has 40% of the market."

Vavassori believes that China is so far ahead of Europe in battery cell technology that the industry currently has no chance of catching-up.

However, the opportunities for Europe’s automotive industry is around the corner as the growth in electric cars will double demand to 100gW.

"If just 1% of global car sales go electric, we will need another 70 factories like Tesla’s Gigafactory,’ said Vavassori.

He estimates that 80% of that production will come from China, for ‘wet’ cell lithium ion batteries.

Calling for Europe to respond and develop its own cell manufacturing industry, he warned: “Do we want a shift in our geopolitical power on cells from Europe to China?”

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Scoobman 10 May 2017

Competing with China

Even if 100gW dry battery technology is designed in Europe, it is likely to be produced mainly in Asia because labour costs are so much lower there. We tend to get transfixed by a desire for low value 'making' jobs, but the high value jobs are in the science and the design of the batteries.
mysteryx 10 May 2017

Already missed the boat

China and Europe are now actually way behind the latest American technology once production starts:-

https://news.utexas.edu/2017/02/28/goodenough-introduces-new-battery-technology

fadyady 10 May 2017

Right on

That's the first sensible words that I have read in Autocar today the rest is just admissions of Volkswagen Audi failures to develop any new cleaner technologies and emotional pleas full of baloney gas diesel and greed.