Factbox: Plans for electric vehicle battery production in Europe
09/11/2018 07:00
Nov 9 (Reuters) - Germany has earmarked 1 billion euros
($1.2 billion) to support a consortium looking to produce
electric car battery cells and plans to fund a research facility
to develop next-generation solid-state batteries, three sources
told Reuters. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1XF0BK
The measures, expected to be announced by Economy Minister
Peter Altmaier next week, are designed to reduce the dependence
of German carmakers on Asian battery suppliers and protect
German jobs at risk from the shift away from combustion engines.
Below are details of plans to establish electric vehicle
(EV) battery plants in Europe:
NORTHVOLT https://northvolt.com
The Swedish company, headed by a former Tesla TSLA.O
executive, aims to build Europe's biggest lithium-ion battery
factory, producing 32 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery cells a
year by 2023, rivalling Tesla's U.S. "gigafactory".
It has partnered with German carmaker BMW BMWG.DE ahead of
plans to raise 1.5 billion euros in debt and equity to build an
initial 8 GWh of capacity and has asked for a 400 million euro
loan from the European Investment Bank. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1WV2I7
German industrial giant Siemens SIEGn.DE is helping to
build the factory. Northvolt will become its preferred supplier
for lithium-ion batteries when production starts in 2020.
Northvolt is also planning a factory in Poland to produce
battery systems for energy storage companies and the mining
industry. The plant in Gdansk would take cells from the Swedish
factory and use them to develop battery systems or modules.
A Northvolt spokesman said the company was not involved in
talks to forge a German-led consortium, but he said Northvolt
would welcome more alliances in Europe.
TESLA
U.S. electric carmaker Tesla favours Germany as the location
for its first European gigafactory, its chief executive Elon
Musk said in July. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1TM3FG
Tesla already has operations in Pruem, Germany, with its
Grohmann Automation division that specialises in automated
manufacturing systems for battery making plants.
Tesla has said it plans to build three more gigafactories to
accompany its first in Nevada, United States. That plant is
jointly owned by Panasonic 6752.T , which is the exclusive
battery cell supplier for Tesla's mass-market Model 3 sedan.
CATL
China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL)
300750.SZ said in July it would build its first production
site in Europe in Germany and the plant would supply carmaker
BMW with lithium-ion batteries.
BMW plans to source 4 billion euros of battery cells from
CATL over the next few years, with 1.5 billion euros coming from
the new site in Erfurt in eastern Germany. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1U529C
The CATL factory will create about 600 jobs and reach a
production capacity of 14 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2022. CATL had
shipments of 12 GWh in 2017.
BYD
Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD 1211.HK 002594.SZ is
one of the world's biggest battery producers with the lowest
production costs, according to Bernstein Research.
BYD is considering cell production in Europe, an executive
told Reuters earlier this year, adding it was not clear where it
might be located. The company has two production sites for
electric buses in Europe, in Hungary and France.
LG CHEM
South Korea's LG Chem 051910.KS plans to produce 100,000
EV batteries per year at its new Polish factory near the western
city of Wroclaw, 190 km (120 miles) from the German border.
The LG Chem plant supplies batteries to German carmakers
Audi, Porsche and Daimler. It has also secured a contract to
supply batteries for Germany's Volkswagen starting in late 2019.
The factory's planned output of 100,000 battery cells is
equivalent to roughly 4 GWh per year which means the plant's
capacity is just a fraction of expected future demand in Europe.
GSR CAPITAL http://www.gsrcapital.com/en
Chinese investment firm GSR Capital last year bought Nissan
Motor Co's 7201.T electric vehicle battery business -
Automotive Energy Supply Corp - including battery plants in
Japan, the U.S. state of Tennessee and England.
The UK plant produces 2 GWh of lithium ion batteries per
year for Nissan electric vehicles.
GS YUASA
Japanese battery maker GS Yuasa Corp 6674.T said in
January it would set up a factory in Hungary that would assemble
lithium ion batteries and would consider producing cells on the
site in the future.
SAMSUNG SDI
South Korea's Samsung SDI Co 006400.KS started production
at a new factory near Budapest this year that is expected to
produce batteries for 50,000 electric vehicles a year.
Samsung SDI, an affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
005930.KS , also produces rechargeable batteries for electronic
devices such as smartphones and energy storage systems.
Samsung SDI, which already has a plant in Austria assembling
battery packs, has supplied batteries to Volkswagen and BMW.
SK INNOVATION
South Korea's SK Innovation 096770.KS plans to break
ground this year on a battery plant in Hungary and launch
production from 2020, producing 7.5 GWh of batteries per year.
SK Innovation started as Korea Oil Corporation and owns
South Korea's largest crude oil refiner. It also has divisions
for chemicals, lubricants, batteries and electronic materials.
SAFT https://www.saftbatteries.com
France's Saft, owned by energy company Total TOTF.PA
produces a range of batteries, including for back-up power and
industrial applications, but not for electric vehicles.
In February, it created an alliance with German industrial
group Siemens, Solvay SOLB.BR and Manz M5ZG.DE to develop a
new generation of batteries.
The group will focus on advanced high-density lithium-ion
and solid-state technology, targeting the market for electric
vehicles, railway, marine sectors, among others. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1QB6UC
A Saft spokesman said the company was not participating in
Germany's e-mobility summit on Nov. 12-13 and that Saft was not
aware of another multinational battery cell alliance.
TERRAE https://www.terrae.com
The German-based consortium of 17 companies and research
institutions announced plans last year to build two foundries,
where lithium-ion battery cells are produced to customers'
specifications. It said its two planned factories would have a
capacity of 34 GWh by 2028, which would top Northvolt's plans.
But the consortium has run into liquidity problems as
companies shied away from investing, industry sources told
Reuters. So the future of TerraE remains unclear.
A spokesman of TerraE did not respond when asked by Reuters
to give an update of its battery cell plans.
VOLKSWAGEN
Volkswagen's VOWG_p.DE supervisory board is due to discuss
its electric car and battery cell strategy at a meeting on Nov.
16. The German carmaker has said in the past that it was
studying battery cell production at its plant in Salzgitter.
A source told Reuters on Thursday that the board would
discuss a far-reaching alliance with South Korean battery cell
maker SK Innovation 096770.KS . urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1XJ8LN
BMW
BMW BMWG.DE is establishing a technology consortium with
Northvolt and Belgium's Umicore UMI.BR to develop a value
chain for battery cells in Europe, including development,
production and, ultimately, recycling.
The company has also said it will purchase specific raw
materials such as cobalt, and then make them available to
battery cell suppliers as a way to secure a supply of electric
car batteries.
DAIMLER
Daimler DAIGn.DE said it would add battery manufacturing
capabilities to its Mercedes-Benz plants in Sindelfingen and
Untertuerkheim in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The company is already assembling batteries in its Kamenz
plant in the eastern state of Saxony, but the factory relies on
imported battery cells.
CONTINENTAL
German auto parts and tyre maker Continental AG CONG.DE
formed a joint venture in March with Chinese auto parts supplier
CITC to produce so-called mild hybrid batteries in China.
Continental also said it was considering making EV batteries
using solid-state technology, but for was holding out for now
until more advances have been made in the field.
(Reporting by Michael Nienaber in Berlin, Ed Taylor in
Frankfurt, Jan C. Schwartz in Hamburg, Esha Vaish in Stockholm,
Bate Felix in Paris; editing by David Clarke)
((michael.nienaber@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 2888 5085;
Reuters Messaging: michael.nienaber.reuters.com@reuters.net
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