Are batteries a success or a failure?

In the tangle of policies making up the EU’s industrial strategy, batteries actually stand out as a relative success. The European Commission includes them in “important projects of common European interest”, making it easier to kick-start manufacturing with public subsidies.

Are European battery projects being scrapped or scaled down?

So news that European battery projects are being scrapped or seriously scaled down is an important sign of things going wrong, especially as the disappointments do not appear to be due to Europe’s well-known but slow-to-fix handicaps on technology, raw materials and energy costs.

What happened to Northvolt?

Then, Northvolt’s production plan began to fall apart, and people working at its main plant mysteriously started to die. The enthusiasm was palpable when Northvolt finally opened the doors to its lithium -ion plant in the small Swedish town of Skelleftea, near the Arctic Circle, in 2021.

Are slowing electric vehicle sales a problem?

The issue is, rather, that slowing electric vehicle sales have undermined expectations of market demand for the battery capacity that was to come on stream. This exemplifies a broader problem: a private sector deeply lacking in faith that its political leaders can move from words to action.

What happened to battery prices in 2024?

New York, December 10, 2024 – Battery prices saw their biggest annual drop since 2017. Lithium-ion battery pack prices dropped 20% from 2023 to a record low of $115 per kilowatt-hour, according to analysis by research provider BloombergNEF (BNEF).

Is battery overcapacity rife?

Currently, overcapacity is rife, with 3.1 terawatt-hours of fully commissioned battery-cell manufacturing capacity globally. That is more than 2.5 times annual demand for lithium-ion batteries in 2024, according to BNEF.