The German Minister of the economy, as a traveling representative in terms of the battery cell and the car. Now, Peter Altmaier, was able to present the first fruits of its use: It is a question of billions and the future of the car.
His goals are modest: In the coming decade, the Federal Minister of economic Affairs wants to bring about a third of the global battery cell production to Europe. “I believe that we should make it a goal to meet by 2030 a third of the global supply of batteries with their own Knowledge from German and European production,” said Altmaier on Tuesday a conference on electric mobility in Berlin. “We need industry consortia from Europe.”
There is a growing interest of companies to participate in a battery cell manufacturing, according to the Minister. Several consortia are forming. Name Altmaier mentioned but. He reckon that it is factory give until the end of the first quarter of 2019, the specific investment decisions for a battery cell.
As with the Airbus?
The state could support the market introduction and framework, “as was the case for the development of the Airbus and the Ariane is also the case,” said Altmaier. Therefore, the Ministry would be ready up to 2021 in the budget of the Federal economy a billion euros. Altmaier seeks the cooperation with other European countries.
Economy Minister Peter Altmaier – use for the electric mobility
Criticism of the project, for example, by the Institute of German economy (IW) in Cologne. At the present time, he had “economically significant doubt,” says the IW researcher Andreas Jung DW. Where there is an existing technology, where considerable knowledge projections in the aisatischen manufacturers. “It would make a lot more sense in the next Generation of battery cells in the competition. With today’s technology, I don’t think you can build a viable Alternative.”
That his plans do not conflict with the competition policy of the EU, the German Minister made several trips to Brussels. So also for energy, EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic spoke in Berlin on Tuesday. Before that, he had insisted, the EU Commission’s strut in the area of battery cells according to independence and a leading Position. In the case of the two-day Berlin conference on electric mobility, which ends on Tuesday, the focus was on topics such as the competitiveness of Europe in this area. Was but you also talked about the support for the regions in which the exit strategy from Coal jobs to be lost. The Eastern coal region of Lusatia, for example, would look like as a location of a battery-cell factory.
Minister and the creation of value
Observer, the Minister Altmaier saw in his promotional tours in terms of battery cells, noticed sometimes a shake of the head given the fact that German and European car makers wanted to abandon the biggest piece of cake in the value-added of E-Mobile. The sun in the battery – to be more precise: in the Thousands of cells that make up a modern Lithium-ion battery. It stands for more than one-third of the value added in the electricity-driven car. You mean: especially with the battery cells of the E-car to earn money. “Here, we must not resign ourselves to this value creation takes place in the future in Asia and the United States,” said Altmaier.
However, the production of Lithium-ion battery is a real business Risk – with, in turn, difficult to value creation. There are materials for three-quarters of the value added in the basic and material costs. The Material is rare and is more expensive and more expensive. Example cobalt, whose price rose in two years to 300 percent. And cobalt is essential to the density of the batteries is for the memory. The raw material is extracted, sometimes under extreme conditions in countries such as Congo and Zambia, often of children.
So far, the market is firmly in the hands of a few specialists, which have expanded their market position for years or decades. The companies are the heavyweights Panasonic from Japan or from South Korea, LG Chem, Samsung SDI, and SK Innovation. From China companies like Lishen, BYD and especially CATL roles but the market. All together they have about 80 percent of the market.
Battery production in the case of CATL in Ningde, China
Even now, the 40 large factories for battery are built of cells. Mostly in Asia, and with a large capital outlay: As the Chinese Newcomer CATL in the summer, went public, the company achieved in just one day, more than 10 billion euros. Observers estimate that in the next ten years 100 billion euros in order to Finance further Expansion. CATL now also has plans for a production in Germany.
A billion and 100 billion
How far is a billion Euro, the German economy Minister Altmaier spoke now and again, is a broadly discussed issue. It was intended as start-up funding, the Vision of the Minister, should support the commitment of the private companies. The companies in the industry in Germany and Europe, but so far, more than hesitant.
Currently, VW, Daimler and BMW buy cells in Asia and assemble them self to large batteries for E-cars. Daimler has tried it once already with its own battery production, with a Partner-operated facility in Kamenz (Saxony), but as early as 2015. The automotive supplier Bosch has decided recently, after a long time of planning a production Department.
Volkswagen aims to be electric
According to media reports, Altmaier, could have found open ears for other players in the industry: With the battery manufacturer Varta, the chemical giant BASF and the German subsidiary of US car maker Ford have found may be first commercial for the target Alliance. As an Alliance it would have to be in order to cope with the billions in costs of around 20 billion euros, which would be necessary for a production.
E-car production at VW in Dresden
Also, Volkswagen is considering a stake, but it could also go in a different direction, as an Insider to the news Agency Reuter. “There are several possibilities,” he said. The VW Board will probably be commissioned on Friday to consider whether we should alternatively work with the Korean manufacturer of SKI Innovation. VW itself is not expressed.
However, VW wants to push in the middle of the biggest crisis the change to a provider of electric cars – for which there are very, very many battery cells will need. The Supervisory Board is to give corporate circles, on the next Friday the green light for an E-car Plan from VW-in-chief Herbert Diess. Thereafter, two more than previously planned would change in the next few years, three works on the production of pure battery-powered vehicles. With the way in Emden. The plans of Volkswagen for Emden, to build a particularly favorable electric model with a quantity of 200,000 units in the year. The internal “MEB entry” referred to the car to be available for under 20,000 euros.