Where are the batteries of electric cars in Europe? Here is our complete mapping of the Gigafactory

The rise in raw material prices encourages certain companies to look for spare solutions-this is the case of Tesla, which announced in 2020 that it planned to go to Lithium-Fer-Phosphate batteries cheaper. However, this will not apply to all vehicle models offered by the company. The contemporary company Amperex Technology CO – The largest battery manufacturer in the world – works to improve the performance of new components. At the same time, production methods are developed with startups such as Our Next Energy, Novi, Michigan. Elon Musk recently announced that LFP batteries will be used in all low -cost models, while nickel and manganese batteries will be used in long -term performance cars.

Electric car batteries – main manufacturers and role of components

The development of the lithium-ion battery market does not slow down. On the contrary, each year, more and more companies specializing in the production of batteries for electric cars are emerging. According to estimates, by 2040, around 70 % of all personal vehicles will be powered by electricity and battery manufacturers will obviously play an important role in this transformation in this transformation.

What are the companies that make batteries for electric cars ?

The growing demand for lithium-ion batteries offers companies that produce them real opportunity for growing development. Currently, the main players in this market sit in China, Japan, Korea and the United States-it is Panasonic, LG Chem, Samsung, Beijing Pride Power, SB Limotive and Tesla. The full list is much longer and is constantly growing. In order not to alter their operations the batteries are protected by additional elements – these are in particular insulating protective parts.

The role of the European Union in the manufacture of electric car batteries

According to forecasts, the request for batteries for electric vehicles could be multiplied by five in the next 20 years. The European Union intensively supports the development of the electric car market and actively promotes this type of solution. This is why, in 2017, the European Commission launched the European Alliance for batteries. Only one year after its launch, significant progress has already been made in the field of battery production in Europe. Knauf Industries joined the TSA community in 2020 as a provider of plastic components for battery packs.

In Europe, the Swedish company Northvolt is the main manufacturer of batteries. Its competitor on the Asian market is the Automotive Cell Company (ACC), a joint company between SAFT/TOTAL and PSA/OPEL.

In the context of battery manufacturers for VE, Polish companies also deserve to be mentioned. Although there is no factory yet producing this type of cars in Poland, major projects related to components for batteries production are already implemented. There are also many Polish subsidiaries of international companies. LG Wrocław solution is currently the largest European manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for the automotive industry.

Manufacturing cost of electric car batteries

The cost of the battery of an electric car now represents more than 30 % of the total value of the vehicle. This situation is explained by the high price of the rare resources necessary for the manufacture of the battery: lithium, nickel, cobalt and magnesium, among others. Expenses related to the extraction of these elements represent more than half of the cost of the whole battery. THE VE batteries price is also affected by the need to use additional elements in construction, which are designed to prevent electrical breakdowns and protect sensitive battery components.

Tesla’s LFP batteries – an innovative business example in the field of VEs

The rise in raw material prices encourages certain companies to look for spare solutions-this is the case of Tesla, which announced in 2020 that it planned to go to Lithium-Fer-Phosphate batteries cheaper. However, this will not apply to all vehicle models offered by the company. The contemporary company Amperex Technology CO – The largest battery manufacturer in the world – works to improve the performance of new components. At the same time, production methods are developed with startups such as Our Next Energy, Novi, Michigan. Elon Musk recently announced that LFP batteries will be used in all low -cost models, while nickel and manganese batteries will be used in long -term performance cars.

The battery alone is not everything – additional components are also important

Like the other components of the car, the battery of the electric vehicle must be properly protected. Road traffic is an environment that is quite demanding for lithium-ion batteries: they are exposed to all kinds of impacts and to a fairly intensive use during driving. Consequently, their capacity and their performance can gradually decrease, which results in a drop in car autonomy. It is therefore important to use components such as cell separators or durable insulating elements, which absorb shocks.

Battery protection and life

In addition to the production itself, manufacturers of battery for VE attach great importance to the development of new technologies aimed at increasing the lifespan and durability of the batteries. Given the high production costs of the batteries, it is important that they are effective and have reduced deterioration levels, even after long periods of use. One of the decisive factors for the life of a battery is the way it is used – however, it is just as important that it is properly protected. Knauf Automotive offers us solutions in this field, specializing, among other things, in car batteries insulation systems and components that protect the battery against shocks.

Knauf Automotive is based on expanded polypropylene (PPE) – light and flexible material – as well as different specialized foams for battery packs and other components. The PPE is used to make full battery insulation kits, which are not only light, but also resistant to a variety of mechanical damage. In addition, PPE foam has thermal insulation properties, which prevent high temperature transmission between individual cells. It is also heat resistant – these are other characteristics that are important in the context of electric car batteries.

Where are the batteries of electric cars in Europe ? Here is our complete mapping of the Gigafactory

And if Europe became a major player in the production of batteries for electric vehicles ? This is what we are examining today, by taking stock of the various project production factories in France, Germany and elsewhere.

If Europe indeed wants a future rich in trendy vehicles, the dependence of the old continent towards the manufacturers of battery will only grow. Indeed, with the vast majority of battery factories today present in Asia (CATL in China, LG Chem in South Korea, Panasonic in Japan), it is urgent to predict a future where production will be more local. From today, More than one in ten new vehicles sold in Europe is 100 % electric, And this figure is led to climb consequently by 2030.

Whether to limit the carbon footprint of the production of an electric car, or even to ensure energy independence in the event of a conflict, the European Union opens its arms to accommodate the industry giants in the sector in different countries. In this file we will take stock of what is planned for the current decade, and will try to imagine a future where European electric vehicles will be equipped with batteries made on site.

Volkswagen wants to be taken seriously in the electrification race

It is no longer a secret today: the Volkswagen group is massively eliminating. Indeed, in addition to the many models recently released under one of the group’s brands (Volkswagen ID.4, Skoda Enyaq, Porsche Taycan or Cupra Born), the German giant is also involved in the Ionity consortium, which deploys rapid charging stations across Europe.

The initial plan of the Volkswagen group provided two battery factories in Europe, but in 2021, new announcements took place. These are today Six different factories that are planned by Volkswagen across Europe, And we know the details of three of them to date.

The German Salzgitter site has also seen its work began in the summer of 2022, and the objective of this factory is to produce the brand’s vehicle batteries by 2025. Volkswagen has created a new company called “Powerco”, which is taking care of the implementation of the various batteries for the group for the group,.

This first German “Powerco” factory should produce up to 40 GWh of batteries per year, While the Swedish factory in partnership with Northvolt has already delivers its first batteries since the end of 2021. The third confirmed site is in Valence, Spain, and the other three factories do not yet have a place of establishment revealed to the public.

All Volkswagen factories should make it possible to produce, ultimately, up to 240 GWh of batteries each year in Europe. This would be enough to equip three million electric cars with an 80 kWh battery, just that.

Tesla would have the largest battery factory on the continent

Another major player in the production of batteries in Europe is a manufacturer that is nothing European: Tesla. Pioneer in electric vehicles, It is not a surprise to note that the American manufacturer wants to set up around the world to produce its vehicles.

So far, Tesla has produced its batteries in the United States or Asia, when it does not buy them from other suppliers. However, The future requirements of the European Union for obtaining an ecological bonus will be potentially linked to the production of a vehicle and its batteries on the old continent.

This is why Tesla plans to build a battery factory next to its Gigafactory in Berlin, Germany in Germany. For its entry, The battery production plant would have a capacity of 100 GWh annual, with a possible extension to 250 GWh. Just with 100 GWh capacity per year, it would be 800,000 Tesla Model Y which could be produced for Europe, with batteries from this factory.

Given the current production of the Gigafactory of Berlin (around 30,000 vehicles in the last quarter of 2022), it is difficult to imagine a battery plant as important to this day. However, Tesla has already shown its capacity to drastically increase its pace of car manufacturing in the past, and produce seven times more vehicles in 2030 than in 2022 in Berlin is far from inaccessible.

Be careful however: before the final validation of this European factory, Tesla may choose another continent to set up its battery factory, depending on the rules and policies of the moment. Plan Biden is currently providing for a reduction in taxes for electric vehicles produced in full in the USA, and Tesla may pause its European battery plant for the benefit of a North American factory.

Three factories planned in France

Cock-a-doodle Doo : France will indeed have its own battery manufacturing factories, since three of them are already planned in France. Next to Dunkirk, the French industrial company Verkor announced in February 2022 the construction of a low-carbon battery factory, with an initial capacity of 16 GWh in 2025.

This production will allow you to equip More than 300,000 electric city cars from 2025, and the ambition to produce 50 GWh of batteries in 2030. This production will be partly intended for Renault, which has signed a strategic partnership with Verkor. The French group also has another partner in Douai to produce batteries: AESC Invision.

The Douai site is strategic, with the proximity of the port of Dunkirk for the supply of raw materials by boat on the one hand, and the Renault factory located 100 meters on the other hand. Finally, the third French factory is also in Hauts-de-France, where a project carried by ACC (Automotive Cells Co.) is getting out of the ground.

The start of production would be for the end of 2023, with a production of at least 8 GWh in the first year. By 2030, this ACC factory would be able to produce between 24 and 32 GWh of batteries per year, or more or less What equip 500,000 Renault Zoe or Peugeot E-208.

In May 2023, we learned that a new project was going to see the light of day in France, in the form of an experimental solid battery factory, for a commissioning in 2026. It will be around 48 GWh which are expected to leave the production lines each year, still around Dunkirk. It was the Taiwanese Prologium who has announced to set up on this French site.

Germany would become the first European producer of batteries

If France and its three battery factories by the end of the decade can impress, it is nothing vis-à-vis Germany, which begins its transition from the construction of the electric car to electric. Indeed, by totaling all the projects to set up on its soil with regard to the production of batteries, it is no less Twelve factories that are planned on both sides of the country.

In total, Production should reach almost 435 GWh per year by 2030, which is enough to provide batteries to around five million electric cars. And this figure only corresponds to Germany, which would well become the largest European producer of batteries. The first German factory has just started production.

The rest of Europe is not sidelined. In Italy, three factories are planned, totaling 200 GWh of production. In August 2022, Chinese Catl has announced the establishment of a factory in Hungary, which has a capacity of 100 GWh alone. Mercedes, BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen manufacturers will be among the first customers, since they all have assembly factories in Hungary.

A Europe on the front of the stage

As you can see, The 2030 horizon will be rich in batteries produced in Europe. Current estimates indicate production exceeding 700 GWh of batteries, which asks a question: what will we do with all these batteries ?

Of course, the number of electric vehicles sold will drastically increase during the current decade, which implies growing battery needs. But with 700 annual GWh, this production would be enough to equip Ten million electric cars with a 70 kWh battery.

At the end of 2022, sales of electric vehicles represent around 10 % of registrations European level, or less than 1,500,000 vehicles. Is it reasonable to imagine this figure being multiplied by seven in eight years ?

If we believe the last forecasts, this is indeed the case, but that involves selling vehicles that have large batteries, which is far from being ideal. Indeed, in addition to the superfluous side for many uses, the on -board weight of a 70 kWh battery is such that it is not possible today to equip an electric city car with such a large battery.

Anyway, if production becomes surplus in Europe, several possibilities will exist: additional batteries will be able to either be exported, or intended for other uses, such as energy storage. This last segment could also be essential for the uses of the future that are V2G or V2L.

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Watch out for this false information on the manufacture of electric car batteries

The end of the sale of new thermal cars from 2035 was adopted by the 27 member states of the European Union on June 29, new stage to help achieve the climatic objectives. And since the European Parliament has spoken out in favor of this text on June 9, publications criticizing electric vehicles have spread on social networks. In June, a visual was again very shared on Facebook: he indicates that to make an electric car battery “which weighs 450 kg”, it is necessary to “dig, move and treat 225 tonnes of raw material”.

“Electric cars do not save the planet, they destroy it,” concludes the post. On Twitter too, the environmental cost of electric vehicles is pointed out, a user denounces her “negative consequences in CO2”, in a tweet shared more than 600 times. Other photos have resurfaced on Facebook: those of an Autolib cemetery in the Loir-et-Cher where the batteries would run (an infox which dates from 2021 and which we had treated here).

Fake off

The figures mentioned in the viral visual are “false”, judge Olivier Vidal, research director at the CNRS, at the Institute of Earth Sciences in Grenoble. Aluminum, steel, manganese, copper, cobalt: for a 320 kg battery (Type vehicle Citadin Zoe de Renault), “we certainly do not exceed 25 tonnes of ore, 10 times less than what is announced”, Calculate-T -he. In September 2021, the geological and mining research office estimated, with AFP which had made another version of this visual, “that we were around 21 tonnes” and not 225.

06/29/22 | LATE

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