Batterien: Made in Europe

Only less than one percent of global battery production currently comes from Europe. Yet battery storage technologies are an important component of the energy transition. Find out here why Europe is playing an increasingly important role in battery production and what electromobility has to do with it.

Sebastian Schuster

13 January 2022

Technology

Reading Time: 2 min.

Asia has long been considered the global pioneer of electromobility. But Europe is playing an increasingly important role in the battle for global market share. For example, in its Electric Vehicle Index, which the consultants use to regularly measure the development of e-mobility in the 15 most important countries, McKinsey predicts that Germany will produce more electric vehicles than China in the future. This movement will lead to more and more “batteries made in Europe”.

Battery production: Growth world champion Europe

Europe is currently the world’s growth champion in the battery production sector. In no other region worldwide is the production capacity for lithium-ion batteries growing as rapidly as here.

Only less than one percent of all batteries produced worldwide currently come from Europe. But even the rapid growth in battery production will not bring the big turnaround anytime soon.

There are also many plans to build factories for battery cell production in Europe. A picture of the future that will definitely further change the market share in global competition. The great challenge for European newcomers is to catch up with the experience lead of Asian manufacturers in order to be able to compete with them in the future.

Status quo: Low production in international comparison

Even though battery production growth in Europe is higher than in any other region, production capacity is far behind that of Asia. To put this in perspective: Only less than one percent of all batteries produced worldwide currently come from Europe. Compare this to the Asian market, which to date takes up 90 percent of the batteries produced worldwide. In a nutshell: Europe is currently far behind Asia in battery production by international standards, and even rapid growth will not change that anytime soon. Nevertheless, Europe is catching up and definitely making up ground in the race for high-performance energy storage technologies.

Battery storage technologies are an important component of the energy transition. However, the mobility transition also poses new challenges for the automotive industry and its suppliers.

Sustainable battery production for a sustainable drive

The ecological balance also plays a very important role, since, for example, around 30 to 60 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the production of electric vehicles can be traced back to the vehicle battery. With the further expansion of renewable energies, CO2 emissions in the manufacture of battery cells should fall continuously.

The automotive industry is undergoing the greatest transformation in its history. Megatrends such as digitalization, autonomous driving and electromobility are shaping developments – not only among manufacturers, but also among suppliers.

Intelligent automation in battery production

The topic of energy storage will play a decisive role in the development of Germany and Europe as a business location in the coming years. It is now up to us to take advantage of these developments. Smart automation solutions will help drive the change. To find out what smart automation for electromobility can look like, visit the KUKA website.

The mobility sector is currently undergoing significant change. “Electromobility is in pole position” and the classic combustion engine is gradually being replaced. Read more about the “Drive in change” in our blog topic series Sustainability.