As Europeans embrace the shift to electric vehicles, with sales of plug-in vehicles reaching 1 million after soaring by 40 per cent in the first half of 2018, according to figures from EV Volumes, the European Union is looking to ignite its own EV battery industry.
The EU currently has no large scale EV battery industry to speak of: while Daimler announced plans in July to begin production of its own batteries at its Mercedes-Benz plants in Sindelfingen and Untertuerkheim and VW has made similar noises, and other European automakers are historically dependent on Asian suppliers.
“The lack of European cell manufacturing base puts the EU at a competitive disadvantage — it jeopardises the position of EU’s industry because of security of supply chain issues and increases costs due to transportation, time delays, weaker quality control or limitation on the design,” the EU states on its website.
China’s BYD is already eyeing the market, having stated in recent months it is seeking to make Brussels home in order to meet EV battery demand in Europe.
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