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Germany, Europe's largest economy, wants to reduce the
dependence of its carmakers on Asian electric vehicle (EV)
battery suppliers and protect jobs at home that may be at risk
from the shift away from combustion engines.
Its car battery push, however, could be coming too late. Asian
market leaders are ramping up output and some experts say there
is a risk of a glut that could hinder the establishment of
large-scale battery cell production by European newcomers.
Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Tuesday that Germany
wanted to lay the groundwork in the months ahead for large-scale
battery production in Europe and expected such production to
start in Germany from 2021.
"Production should start as quickly as possible," he said.
He said Germany wanted to work with other European countries and
added that it was already in contact with France, Poland and
Austria on the issue and is holding detailed discussions with
certain companies.
He said there were interested parties for several consortiums on
battery cell production and added that around 500 million euros
could be necessary per consortium to start production.
Altmaier said that the sites for battery cell output would be
decided on with the consortiums and that there would be more
than one. The first production lines could be available from
2021 and each consortium is likely to provide 1,000 to 2,000
jobs at first, he said.
Altmaier said he expected the first concrete investment
decisions at the end of the first quarter of 2019.
European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said the
battery market could be worth 250 billion euros annually by
2025.
(Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing
by Thomas Seythal and Hugh Lawson)
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