EUROPE EV BATTERY MARKET

INTRODUCTION

For hybrid electric cars (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and all-electric vehicles, energy storage technologies, generally batteries, are required .

Because of its high energy per unit mass compared to other electrical energy storage technologies, lithium-ion batteries are presently utilised in most portable consumer devices such as mobile phones and laptops alongside the latest integration within the EV segment of operations.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining popularity as a result of a number of causes, including lower prices and increased climate and environmental consciousness. There have been significant improvements in the development of batteries in recent years. Furthermore, global manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) has grown, which corresponds to the forecasted demand for batteries.

Under specific conditions, the battery capacity reflects the greatest amount of energy that can be recovered from the battery. This unit can be represented in either ampere hour (Ah) or watt hour (Wh), but electric cars prefer the latter.

Currently, the batteries are the main obstacle to EV wider adoption. The development of better, cheaper, and higher capacity batteries will extend vehicles autonomy, and the users view them as a true alternative to the internal combustion engine vehicles

The battery pack is the costliest component in any electric vehicle. For example, the Nissan LEAF's lithium-ion batteries were initially a third of the vehicle's total cost. Another fact that reinforces the battery cost reduction trend is building a “Gigafactory” in order to cut down on the production costs and raise the manufacturing of batteries.

EUROPE EV BATTERY MARKET DEVELOPMENTS AND INNOVATIONS

EUROPE EV BATTERY MARKET DYNAMICS

Europe is making strides in developing a lithium-ion battery (LIB) sector. Despite the gap between European firms and the top industry incumbents, there are compelling reasons for European companies to enter the market. LIB technologies are not monolithic. Cost considerations and product requirements dictate their suitability for each application.

Lithium-ion battery applications are booming, ranging from electric automobiles to energy storage systems, thanks to a global transition away from fossil fuels. There is presently a concentrated drive to establish European sovereignty in LIBs, including the European Battery Alliance to encourage production and research and innovation programmes like "Horizon 2020" and " Battery 2030+"

European businesses, on the other hand, confront a difficult industry climate with considerable obstacles. Asian players dominate the lithium-ion battery production scene, accounting for ~90 percent of worldwide manufacturing capacity.

The Asian giants are entering Europe to meet local demand. In addition to competing against their scale and cost advantages, new entrants must reckon with a fast-paced and dynamic landscape.

LIB technology and industry are rapidly evolving, which presents opportunities. There are four strategic reasons why European LIB players and equipment makers are getting a second shot. To begin with, European manufacturers have not just access to finance, but also to advantageous economic conditions. Local manufacturers give a ten percent cost savings over Asian imports.

LG Chem's LG Energy Solution (LGES) just presented a article about their lithium-ion battery cell factory in Poland, giving us a rare look inside this massive megafactory.

The plant, which is located in Wrocaw, western Poland, is Europe's and one of the world's largest electric vehicle battery plants.

That's a huge volume, and it's likely the largest LGES battery factory yet. This single site is thought to be capable of producing enough batteries for several hundred thousand electric automobiles each year.

There are numerous innovative and highly automated manufacturing processes available. The factory is also powered by carbon-neutral electricity, according to the South Korean business.

At its facility in Fredrikstad, Norway, Hydrovolt, a joint venture between Northvolt and Hydro (an aluminium manufacturer), started conducting commercial recycling operations.

The largest battery recycling facility for electric vehicles in Europe is run by Hydrovolt. It should be adequate to recycle all of the end-of-life batteries sold in Norway. Up to 95% of the materials, including plastics, copper, aluminium, and black matter, may be recovered from batteries thanks to Northvolt's fully automated recycling process, the company claims (a compound containing nickel, manganese, cobalt and lithium).

With a new and complete hydrometallurgical process for the effective recovery of elements of interest that should be operational by 2025, Orano hopes to lead the recycling of lithium-ion (Li-ion) electric car batteries in France and across Europe. 

EUROPE EV BATTERY MARKET SEGMENTATION

The Europe EV Battery Market can be segmented into following categories for further analysis.

Europe EV Battery Market By EV Type

• HEV
• BEV
• PHEV
• FCEV

Europe EV Battery Market By Battery Type

• Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (LI-NMC)
• Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP)
• Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LCO)
• Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO)
• Lithium Manganese Oxide (LMO)
• Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminium Oxide (NCA)

Europe EV Battery Market By Power Capacity Type

• Less than 35kWh
• 35-55kWh
• 55-75kWh
• More than 75kWh

RECENT MARKET TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS IN EUROPE EV BATTERY MARKET

The Europe EV battery market has recently made its technological intervention through varied amounts of research and development. The Private and Public based Research collaboration has been important in placing the battery technology into the market requirements. The Nations have been developing the required infrastructure to better mobility solutions.

In the most recent battery technology, High-molecular materials with high insulation such as polyolefin, polypropylene are used for separators. These materials are stretched to make tiny pores, and there are dry and wet processes to do it. There has been a more focused approach on the safety integration concept of battery operations.

There has been more of limited usage to one film material as a separator, but these days, there has been use of various materials by coating them to enhance performance of separators.

Solid-state batteries, which are not yet being used in mass-market cars, promise to offer greater energy density compared to the lithium-ion batteries typically used in today’s electric vehicles. There is extensive use of sulfide-based cells and promises that its solid electrolyte is not flammable, and it delivers more than 50 percent more energy density.

RECENT LAUNCH IN THE EUROPE EV BATTERY MARKET

Northvolt, a Swedish battery business, had opened a gigafactory in Sweden, the first of its sort on the continent by a European company. The facility in Skelleftea, northern Sweden, constructed its first electric cell to compete with Tesla and Asian suppliers of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, according to a statement from Northvolt.

With an annual production capacity of 60 gigawatt hours, the factory is estimated to manufacture enough batteries to power one million electric vehicles once it reaches full capacity (GWh).

RECENT PARTNERSHIPS IN THE EUROPE EV BATTERY MARKET

Bosch is the largest automotive supplier in the world, as well as a prominent provider of production equipment. It plans to deliver the whole range of processing equipment and components required for large-scale manufacturing of battery cells and systems in collaboration with Volkswagen.

Nissan and Enel have teamed up to build an innovative "Second Life" battery storage solution for used electric vehicles.Nissan provided the batteries from its electric vehicles as part of the agreement, whereas Loccioni, a system integrator, ensured optimal battery integration for the circular process.

The project makes use of advanced technology and therefore is based on a simple concept: when a battery in an electric vehicle approaches the end of its useful life, it is recycled and reassembled in a gigantic stationary storage system.

This system is linked to Endesa's Melilla plant to avoid power outages during periods of high demand, increase grid resilience, and provide network service continuity for the local population.The backup generator is made up of 48 Nissan LEAF batteries that have been used before and 30 new ones.

Galp and Northvolt have decided to form Aurora, a joint venture that will serve as a stepping stone toward the establishment of an integrated lithium-battery value chain that is aligned with Portuguese and European goals.

The JV will develop a plant with an initial annual production capacity of up to 35,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide – a critical material required by the lithium-ion battery manufacturing industry, which is expected to grow more than tenfold by the end of the decade – with the main goal of establishing Europe's largest and most sustainable integrated lithium conversion plant.

To maximise sustainability and efficiency, the factory will use a proven conversion method, utilising current process advances and technology.

A long-term strategic supply agreement for EV (electric vehicle) cathode materials in Europe has been agreed by Umicore and Automotive Cells Company (ACC), a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, TotalEnergies, and its subsidiary Saft.

Future large-scale European battery plants[1] will receive next-generation high nickel cathode materials from Umicore through its greenfield manufacturing facility in Nysa, Poland.

An annual offtake commitment of 13 GWh to a significant platform of a European automaker with initial commercial volumes will serve as the foundation of the long-term arrangement.

Together, Umicore and ACC want to grow their business relationship with the potential to increase yearly supply volumes to at least 46 GWh, which would power at least 500,000 EVs annually.

By giving ACC access to vital, high-performing, and ethically sourced battery materials for the expansion of its European cell production, the relationship supports ACC's aspirations for growth and sustainability.

In return, it will give Umicore protected access to a sizable market for its cathode materials and broaden its exposure to significant and varied EV value chain players.

This long-term supply arrangement supports Umicore's recent battery recycling agreement with ACC, whereby Umicore will recycle the production waste from batteries at ACC's testing facilities in France.

It is a significant accomplishment for Umicore's Rechargeable Battery Materials business.In addition to building Gigafactories in France and Germany, ACC recently revealed intentions to build a third one in Italy.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE IN THE EUROPE EV BATTERY MARKET

EV Batteries form to be the heart and soul of the propulsion in the EVs on a large scale of operations irrespective of the vehicle category being used in the market. Thereby the technological advancement and better mobility solutions are to be placed to have better consistency in battery technology and manufacturing capabilities.

The European Nations based EV manufacturing companies have made a focused approach on decreasing the dependency on China for EV batteries and place up new stations of manufacturing within the nations.

Volkswagen has made its introduction into the EV Battery manufacturing segment of operations in recent developments. Volkswagen has announced plans to build six EV battery factories across Europe by 2030. The business intends to mass-produce standardised batteries in order to cut costs and boost vehicle profitability.

In order to achieve its objectives, the German carmaker has expanded its current collaboration with the Chinese battery manufacturer Guoxuan High-tech (also known as Gotion High-Tech) to manufacture batteries. The new strategy would make battery production a core business of VW. Plans are already underway for the construction of six massive battery manufacturing plants across Europe and the US.

The PSA Group and French battery maker SAFT (one of the seven largest battery makers in the world) intend to set one gigafactory up in France while Volkswagen aims to open six gigafactories in the coming years, across Europe. With conventional assembly lines being made redundant, the resulting unemployment could be, to a degree, cured with the emergence of multiple gigafactories

Samsung Europe which has been the SDK Division of operations under the Battery technology requirements of EV has been of major importance in the EU.

The Most recent advancement has a competitive edge by securing own separator coating technology. It developed an ultra-high heat-resistant separator to ensure safety, and thin films to increase capacity. And are currently using adhesive separators for high quality, and working on the high heat-resistant adhesive separators, which is at the final stage of mass-production for high safety and quality.

EUROPE EV BATTERY MARKET COMPANIES PROFILED

• Samsung SDI
• SK Innovation 
• LG Chemical – LG Group Subsidiary
• CATL Germany
• Northvolt
• Nissan Motor Corporation – Battery Manufacturing
• BASF
• Johnson Matthey
• Yuasa Battery Europe Limited
• Power Sonic Europe Limited
• Abertax Technologies Group
• Accuma SpA
• ALOM Group JSC
• Clarios Technologies