Europe plans to have globally competitive EV battery industry by 2025, says EC

Europe could produce enough battery cells to meet the needs of its captive electric vehicle (EV) industry and could even be in a position to export batteries by 2025, according to the vice-president of the European Commission.

Maros Sefcovic, told delegates at the European Conference on Batteries – held online on Tuesday November 24 – that the European Battery Alliance (EBA) aimed to create a globally competitive and sustainable European battery value chain worth around €250 billion ($297 billion) by 2025.

The EBA was created by Sefcovic in 2017, with the aim of avoiding technological dependence on competitors and to capitalize on the growth and investment potential of batteries, when it became clear that the transition to a greener economy was a key priority for countries in and around Europe.

“With more than 500 industrial actors, the [EBA] has become a resounding success in just three years, turning Europe into a global battery hot-spot,” Sefcovic said.

He said 15 new battery production plants – the so-called “gigafactories” – were under construction in locations across Europe, including Italy, France, Germany Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden.

He pointed to Sweden-based Northvolt – which is developing lithium-ion battery production facilities in Sweden, Germany and Poland – as a good example.

In addition, Chinese lithium-ion battery manufacturer CATL is developing a production facility in Germany, while South Korea’s SK Innovation has already built a lithium-ion battery factory in Hungary – with production slated to start this year and an aim of supplying 7.5GWh of battery cells annually.

Other than these projects, most manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries takes place in China, he said.

Sefcovic said the European facilities would be able to supply cells for at least six million EVs by 2025.

He added that plans to “future-proof” Europe’s regulatory framework on batteries and and to strengthen the resilience of the EU’s critical materials value chains were well under way.

“This will ensure that only the greenest and safest batteries make it into the European market.” he said.

What to read next
Sluggish demand for China’s graphite flake fines in both the batteries’ anode and refractories sectors has led to ongoing output cuts among flake miners and processors, which has further tightened the supply of large flake graphite in China, sources told Fastmarkets.
The growth in Chinese shipments of batteries for energy storage systems (ESS) is far outstripping the growth in deliveries of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Friday November 1.
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has confirmed that fuel duty will not rise in 2025, keeping the previous 5 pence-per-liter discount in place.
After a consultation period, Fastmarkets has discontinued the price due to a lack of liquidity and production of the commodity. All short-term forecasts associated with this price produced by the Fastmarkets research team, if any, have also been discontinued. If you have any comments on the discontinuation of this price, please contact Zihao Li by email […]
Australian lithium producer Pilbara Minerals will be placing its Ngungaju plant on care and maintenance from December 2024, the company announced on Tuesday October 29.
Steel leaders from throughout Latin America gathered during October 29-31 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at Alacero Summit 2024 to learn more about the region's growing importance in the global steel market