EU says it could be self-sufficient in electric vehicle batteries by 2025

(EurActiv, 25 Nov 2020) The European Union could produce enough batteries by 2025 to power its fast-growing fleet of electric vehicles without relying on imported cells, European Commission Vice President Maros Šefčovič said on Tuesday (24 November).

As part of its plan to become climate neutral by 2050, the EU wants to boost local production of the building blocks for green industries – including hydrogen fuel to make low-carbon steel and batteries to power clean vehicles.

“I am confident that, by 2025, the EU will be able to produce enough battery cells to meet the needs of the European automotive industry, and even to build our export capacity,” Šefčovič told the online European Conference on Batteries.

Today, China hosts roughly 80% of the world’s lithium-ion cell production, but Europe’s capacity is set to expand fast.

The Commission will table new EU-wide regulations this autumn to ensure batteries manufactured or imported into Europe are “the greenest on this planet,” Šefčovič told EURACTIV in an interview last month.

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EurActiv, 25 Nov 2020: EU says it could be self-sufficient in electric vehicle batteries by 2025