Good news, but we will be more dependent on Chinese batteries than we were on Russian oil. We will continue to be dependent on China for the rare earth metals even if an European battery factory like Northvolt is successful.
Volkswagen has just opened a battery factory in Germany, which is able to produce something like 10% of car batteries needed in the EU. There are others as well, like Northvolt. So if China cuts off batteries, then there would still be a car production in Europe and within a few years it would be back to normal. Obviously there are also countries like South Korea producing batteries. However the EU has some strong train manufacturers and the like, which can also reduce the demand for cars, which is another great alternative.
That’s why I keep saying Europe should go for hydrogen fuel. We already have plenty of green energy that we need to store somehow. Instead of subsidising chinese battery makers, we should put serious money in hydrogen r&d
We really shouldn’t. For every watt of electricity you produce, you’ll get a hydrogen-powered car only a fraction of the distance of a battery-powered car. People are already lamenting how all those batteries should be charged, adding another factor (that’s >1) to that equation will only make the transition even harder.
Good news, but we will be more dependent on Chinese batteries than we were on Russian oil. We will continue to be dependent on China for the rare earth metals even if an European battery factory like Northvolt is successful.
That’s the beauty of hybrids - we’re dependent on both
…wait
Volkswagen has just opened a battery factory in Germany, which is able to produce something like 10% of car batteries needed in the EU. There are others as well, like Northvolt. So if China cuts off batteries, then there would still be a car production in Europe and within a few years it would be back to normal. Obviously there are also countries like South Korea producing batteries. However the EU has some strong train manufacturers and the like, which can also reduce the demand for cars, which is another great alternative.
Rare earths are worse though.
Umm . . Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in 2025. Largest bankruptcy ever in Sweden.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/mar/12/ev-battery-startup-northvolt-files-for-bankruptcy-in-sweden
Most of the assets have been bought out by Lyten. It really does not matter who owns the companies.
Rare Earths are just another reason to shout “why the hell are we delaying the Mercosur agreement that we desperately need!?”.
Hopefully sodium batteries will help alleviate some of the rare earth dependencies since sodium is quite readily available in large quantities
So is lithium to be honest. Refining it is just a really dirty process.
That’s why I keep saying Europe should go for hydrogen fuel. We already have plenty of green energy that we need to store somehow. Instead of subsidising chinese battery makers, we should put serious money in hydrogen r&d
We really shouldn’t. For every watt of electricity you produce, you’ll get a hydrogen-powered car only a fraction of the distance of a battery-powered car. People are already lamenting how all those batteries should be charged, adding another factor (that’s >1) to that equation will only make the transition even harder.
Just build batteries in Europe.