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.
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.