Germany ready to invest $1.5 billion in battery tech
Germany's government wants an end to Asian dominance, will invest big money to fund development of next-gen solid state cellsGermany will support a consortium of car manufacturers by investing more than €1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in the development of battery technology to help fund the research and development of next-generation solid state batteries.
According to sources speaking to the
newswire, the huge investment will be announced next week and is in a bid to halt German car-maker's reliance on Asian suppliers, with the ultimate aim of protecting German jobs when the shift away from traditional internal combustion-powered cars occurs.The decision to involve itself in funding battery development is also thought to pre-empt similar responses from Chinese, Japanese and Korean governments.
Pure-electric vehicles and their development are now viewed by the German government as crucial to the future success of the country's car industry.
Despite the announcement, some are viewing the funding bonanza as too late as Asian battery manufacturer's ramp up production to unprecedented levels.
In fact, some commentators are even fearing the involvement of large-scale battery production within Europe could be bad news for the industry as a whole with output eventually outstripping demand.
Nonetheless, the German government is already in several talks with companies to lay the foundations for a European manufacturing facility, with senior minister also refusing to rule out cooperation with other countries like Poland.
The Reuters source said German battery makers VARTA Microbattery, BASF and Ford's German facility are all in secret talks.
The news Germany is about to invest a billion euros of tax payers' money in battery tech follows recent news that the Volkswagen Group will meet on Friday this week to discuss its electric car and battery cell strategy.
In the past VW has already announced that it is considering its own battery plant in Germany near its Wolfsburg HQ.
Disrupting the German government's plans, Europe's biggest car maker is already rumoured to be discussing an alliance with South Korean battery supplier SK Innovation.
Meanwhile, BMW has struck a deal with Chinese CATL, that will lead to China's largest battery-maker build its first European plant in eastern Germany.
Despite this Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly remains convinced Germany's own battery cell technology and production facilities will help secure the nation's car making's excellence.
The advanced solid-state batteries that are being funded are expected to be cheaper to produce, with a far higher energy density.
Better still, they use far fewer precious metals compared lithium-ion cells that's supply of raw materials are currently being controlled by China.
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