Europe recently passed China as the world’s No. 1 market for electrified car sales, but it lags in building the most valuable component in those of vehicles: the battery.
Drawing on decades of experience in the consumer electronics market, Asia-based suppliers such as South Korea’s LG Chem, Samsung and SK Innovation, China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) and Japan’s Panasonic, dominate both European and global cell production.
A critical question for any automaker is whether to make a key part or buy from a supplier. The answer for battery cells should be approached from several perspectives, Mosquet said. Any automaker planning a gigafactory will face competitors that have a head start in chemistry and production processes. A shift in technologies, such as toward solid state batteries, could leave them behind, after having already invested hundreds of millions of euros.
Ilika plc (LON:IKA) is a pioneer in solid state battery technology enabling solutions for applications in Industrial IoT, MedTech, Electric Vehicles and Consumer Electronics.
